IDF operation near Jericho leaves one dead

A Palestinian was reportedly killed on Monday during an Israel Defense Forces counterterrorism operation in Aqbat Jaber, located some two miles from Jericho in the Jordan Valley.

The soldiers came under attack during an arrest raid and responded by opening fire, according to the military. Palestinians threw explosive devices and Molotov cocktails at the troops.

The forces detained one Palestinian terror suspect, who has been transferred for questioning.

The Palestinian Authority Health Ministry named the fatality as Mohammad Fayez Balhan, 15.

No Israeli soldiers were injured in the operation, said the military.

In early February, Israeli security personnel in Aqbat Jaber arrested the Palestinian terrorist cell responsible for an attempted mass shooting at a restaurant near Jericho. On Jan. 28, two men armed with an assault rifle and bulletproof vests approached the Me Casa Restaurant near the Israeli town of Vered Yericho but managed to fire only a single shot before their weapon jammed.

And last month, the IDF mapped for demolition the home in Aqbat Jaber of a suspect in the murder of an Israeli American near Jericho. During that operation, Israeli forces were shot at and had firebombs and stones hurled at them.

Meanwhile, two IDF soldiers were wounded overnight Sunday in an operation in the Palestinian Authority-controlled city of Nablus in Samaria.

Israeli soldiers detained a suspected terrorist during the operation, during which Palestinians threw stones and explosive devices at the troops, the military said.

As the soldiers were leaving the city, Palestinians opened fire on two military vehicles; an officer and an enlisted man were lightly wounded by shrapnel and were evacuated to the hospital.

Israeli forces detained three additional Palestinian terror suspects in other raids across Judea and Samaria.