Elite police force kills Palestinian near Tulkarm

Members of the Special Police Unit killed a wanted Palestinian by the name of Salah Karkur in the village of Seyda outside Tulkarm on Wednesday morning. According to reports from Palestinian sources, Israeli troops called on Karkur to give himself up before opening fire.

Karkur, 28, was a member of the al-Quds Brigades, Islamic Jihad's military wing.

The army said that the force was fired upon during the operation and that several explosive devices were also thrown at the officers. An AK-47 was found on the body of the dead Palestinian, the army added.

Palestinians reported that the Special Forces unit encircled the house and, with a bulldozer in tow, called on the man to give himself up. After shots were fired, the bulldozer began demolishing the house, according to the sources.

Palestinians claim that the force killed Karkur about an hour after the encirclement began.

Seida, Atil and Alar are villages located north of Tulkarm that are considered to be Islamic Jihad strongholds, from which many suicide bombers have been dispatched in the past.

The IDF carried out an intensive campaign against terrorist infrastructure in the area, which was commanded by Loay al-Saadi, the former head of Islamic Jihad's military wing in the area. Al-Saadi was killed by IDF forces in 2006.

Hanan Greenberg contributed to this report