IDF says it shot dead 2 Palestinians en route to carry out West Bank ‘terror attack’
Army says pair planned to throw firebombs at Karmei Zur settlement; Ramallah says the two were 15 years old
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The Israel Defense Forces said Thursday that troops had shot dead two Palestinians who were “on their way to carry out a terror attack” near the West Bank settlement of Karmei Zur.
The pair was shot dead by soldiers of the 636th Combat Intelligence Collection Unit, who were waiting in an ambush in the area.
The Palestinian Authority said the two were 15 years old.
The Ramallah-based Palestinian health ministry announced without further details “the martyrdom of Bilal Bahaa Ali Baaran (15 years old) and Muhammad Mahmud Abu Ayash (15 years old), killed by bullets from the occupation this afternoon, Thursday, near Beit Omar, north of Hebron.”
Responding to the reports of their ages, the IDF on Friday said that the two were armed with Molotov cocktails that they intended to throw at the settlement.
“The truth lies in the Molotov cocktails these two ‘innocent’ individuals — the terrorists — were carrying as they sought to carry out a terrorist attack inside the town,” said the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman Col. Avichay Adraee on X.
“Our forces were there in time and prevented this malicious terrorist act,” he added, attaching a photo showing the body of one of the suspects lying on the ground next to what appeared to be a firebomb.
Earlier Thursday, the Shin Bet said that some 40 members of a Hamas network in the Bethlehem area of the West Bank were detained in a series of recent operations. It said they were planning to carry out imminent shooting attacks.
The security agency said that in cooperation with the IDF and police, it had detained members of the Hamas network in recent weeks during 15 or so separate arrest raids. Several weapons used by the Hamas operatives, including an assault rifle, were also captured, the agency’s statement said.
According to the Shin Bet, the suspects’ interrogations revealed that the leaders of the Hamas network recruited and set up terror cells, procured weapons, and planned to carry out shootings against Israeli security forces and civilians.
“One of the terror cells was at an advanced stage of readiness to carry out attacks in the immediate term,” the agency said.
The Times of Israel Community.