IDF: At least 4 gunmen killed in drone strikes during arrest raid near Tulkarem
Military says strike launched after Israeli troops were attacked with explosives, gunfire; four suspects detained, firearms seized, roadside explosives uncovered
At least four Palestinians were killed in overnight drone strikes in the Nur Shams camp near the West Bank city of Tulkarem, the Israel Defense Forces said Sunday.
The IDF confirmed the attack targeted a group of Palestinian gunmen, adding that reservists and Border Police officers operating in the camp arrested four wanted Palestinians, and seized two firearms.
IDF engineering vehicles uncovered explosive devices planted under and on the sides of roads in the camp, which were intended to be detonated against troops, it said.
The military stated that troops also found an explosive device inside a clinic in Nur Shams, where wanted Palestinians were hiding.
During the raid, Palestinian gunmen opened fire and others hurled explosive devices and Molotov cocktails at the soldiers, according to the IDF statement.
“Aircraft struck a number of armed terror squads who fired, hurled explosives, and endangered the troops,” it said, adding that at least four gunmen were killed and others were wounded.
The soldiers also seized several explosive devices from the area of one of the strikes, the IDF added.
The Wafa news agency said five died in the strike, naming Jihad Aarneh, 25, Mahmoud Samer Jaber, 22, Ghayth Yasser Shahada, 25, Waleed Asa’ad Zahra, 22, and Asa’ad As’ad Zahra, 33. A number of other people were wounded, the report said.
The report added that troops damaged infrastructure in the camp during their operation.
In addition, Wafa reported that a man wounded in a drone strike last week in Jenin in the northern West Bank had succumbed to his wounds.
Israeli troops have carried out dozens of raids in terror hotspots in the northern West Bank in recent months, though incursions lasting more than a few hours are rare. Israel says that the PA has lost control of areas of the northern West Bank, allowing terror groups to entrench themselves and launch attacks on Israelis on both sides of the Green Line.
Since the October 7 onslaught by Hamas against Israel, troops have arrested over 2,400 wanted Palestinians across the West Bank, including more than 1,200 affiliated with Hamas.
According to the Palestinian Authority health ministry, some 280 West Bank Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces.
Based on military estimates, the vast majority of the 280 Palestinians killed since October 7 were shot dead during clashes amid arrest raids, and many of them, according to data seen by The Times of Israel, were armed with either a firearm or an explosive device.
The IDF is aware of at least three cases of uninvolved Palestinians being killed by troops in recent weeks, and a handful of cases of settlers killing Palestinians, which are still under investigation.
