IDF kills 10 Palestinian gunmen, arrests 8 in two-day West Bank raid
9 Israeli troops also hurt in clashes in Nur Shams refugee camp, adjacent to Tulkarem
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
The Israel Defense Forces on Saturday continued a counter-terrorism operation in the West Bank’s Nur Shams refugee camp, the military said on Saturday afternoon.
The raid, near Tulkarem, has been ongoing for more than 40 hours.
Amid the operation, the IDF said troops killed at least 10 gunmen and detained another eight wanted Palestinians.
The troops also discovered and destroyed a bomb-making lab; seized firearms, including assault rifles; and used bulldozers to rip up roads where bombs were suspected to have been planted, the military said.
Eight soldiers and a Border Police officer were wounded as of Saturday afternoon amid clashes with Palestinian gunmen and rioters. Their injuries were listed as light and moderate conditions.
Palestinian media outlets reported that senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist Muhammad Jaber, known as Abu Shuja’a, was among those killed by troops.
לוחמי צה"ל, שב"כ ומג"ב פועלים למעלה מ-40 שעות במבצע לסיכול טרור במרחב נור א-שמס במנשה; כוחות הביטחון חיסלו עשרה מחבלים, עצרו שמונה מבוקשים, חשפו מטענים, איתרו והחרימו אמצעי לחימה רבים
לכל הפרטים:https://t.co/twO6IkAiBC pic.twitter.com/3C1r03Seso
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) April 20, 2024
He was the commander of Islamic Jihad’s local wing in Tulkarem, the reports said.
Palestinian media also named Salim Ghannam, 30, and Qais Fathi Nasrallah, 16, as killed amid the raid.
Tensions in Israel and the West Bank have soared since October 7, when terrorists burst through the Gaza border into Israel in a Hamas-led attack, killing at least 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and seizing 253 hostages.
Since October 7, Israeli troops have arrested some 3,850 wanted Palestinians across the West Bank, including more than 1,650 affiliated with Hamas, according to the IDF.
The Palestinian Authority health ministry has said more than 450 West Bank Palestinians have been killed in that time. The IDF says the vast majority of them were gunmen or terrorists carrying out attacks.
