IDF kills last surviving terrorist behind deadly West Bank shooting
Mohammed Zakarneh, one of 3 gunmen in January’s al-Funduq attack, killed near Jenin; two American tourists injured in a stone-throwing attack near Ramallah
A Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist, one of the perpetrators of a deadly terror shooting in the West Bank in January, was killed by Israeli forces near Jenin on Wednesday morning, the Israel Defense Forces said.
Mohammed Zakarneh, from the West Bank city of Qabatiya, was one of three gunmen who opened fire on civilians in the village of al-Funduq, which straddles Route 55, a major east-west highway used by thousands of Israelis and Palestinian drivers daily.
The military said that members of the police’s Yamam counterterrorism unit, along with IDF troops, attempted to arrest Zakarneh, who was found to be hiding in a cave near the village of Misilyah, south of Jenin, after the Shin Bet security agency provided intelligence on his whereabouts.
During the operation, the troops exchanged fire with Zakarneh and two other gunmen hiding in the cave, the military said. The forces fired shoulder-launched missiles during the exchange.
Zakarneh and a second Islamic Jihad gunman from Qabatiya, Marouh Khazima, were killed. The IDF said that Khazima had been released from Israeli jail as part of the November 2023 ceasefire deal with Hamas, which saw the release of 105 living hostages, and had been wanted for terror activity.
According to the IDF, troops found several weapons and other military equipment on the bodies of the slain terrorists. Several more terror operatives who were aiding the two were detained, and were found to be carrying handguns, the military said.
Yamam officers exchange fire with Palestinian Islamic Jihad gunmen holed up in a cave near the village of Misilyah in the northern West Bank, April 16, 2025. (Israel Police)
The other two terrorists who carried out the al-Funduq shooting, Qutaiba al-Shalabi and Mohammed Nazal, were killed by Israeli forces in Qabatiya on January 23 amid a major counterterrorism raid in the Jenin refugee camp.
While Hamas claimed the two gunmen as its members, the IDF and Shin Bet said they were members of the allied Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group.
The attack on January 6 killed off-duty police officer Master Sgt. Elad Yaakov Winkelstein and civilians Rachel Cohen and Aliza Raiz.
According to an initial IDF probe on the January attack, the terrorists, armed with assault rifles, first opened fire at a civilian car from close range, killing Cohen and Raiz. Their deaths were declared at the scene by Magen David Adom medics.
Then, the gunmen fired at a bus further away, injuring eight people, including the driver, 63, who MDA said was rushed to a hospital in serious condition. Two women on the bus were in moderate condition, and at least five others were lightly hurt.
While the terrorists were fleeing, they opened fire on another car around 150 meters (490 feet) away, killing Winkelstein, according to the IDF’s investigation.
Shortly after Wednesday’s operation that ended with Zakarneh’s killing, Palestinian suspects attacked a tourist bus near the West Bank village of Burqa, east of Ramallah, according to an IDF statement.
During the assault, the suspects hurled stones and a paint bottle at the bus, lightly injuring two American tourists. The injured women received prompt medical treatment at the scene, while IDF and police forces quickly arrived and launched a manhunt for the attackers, the military said.
Wednesday’s events took place amid Operation Iron Wall, an ongoing large-scale counterterrorism operation in the West Bank that began in January.
The Times of Israel Community.