The Israel Defense Forces together with the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) carried out a raid in the Jenin refugee camp on Saturday and arrested wanted Palestinian Islamic Jihad operative Saleh Samir Abu Zina, 25, on suspicion of involvement in recent terrorist activity.
During the operation, Palestinians fired live ammunition at the soldiers while others threw explosive devices and Molotov cocktails at them. The IDF returned fire and identified hits.
Two Palestinian gunmen were killed in the exchanges of fire.
Abu Zina has been convicted twice for involvement in terrorist activities and was released from prison in 2020.
“Since his release, Saleh has been ... planning and carrying out shooting attacks towards IDF soldiers in the area,” the IDF said.
Unusually, the IDF provided air cover for the operation, including armed drones and Apache combat helicopters. The aircraft did not provide firepower as it was not needed, the army said.
On Friday, two Palestinian youths were killed in separate clashes with the IDF in Samaria, the Palestinian Authority’s Health Ministry said.
The IDF said soldiers were conducting operational activity near Qalqilya when they identified a terrorist throwing Molotov cocktails at them. Soldiers shot the attacker.
Hours later, a Palestinian was killed in clashes with the IDF north of Ramallah. The army said that a violent disturbance occurred in the area, in which dozens of Palestinians threw rocks at the Israeli community of Harasha, as well as at Border Police and IDF personnel.
Palestinian sources said the IDF used live fire during clashes in the area, which began, they said, after Palestinians pushed back a group of Israelis that tried to attack a local village.
