IDF says troops killed Palestinian who threw bomb at them in West Bank
In separate incident, military says two Palestinians arrested outside settlement found with knives and axe in their vehicle
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleEmanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
A Palestinian who allegedly hurled an explosive device at Israeli soldiers during a raid in the northern West Bank village of Silat al-Harithiya on Saturday night was shot dead, the Israel Defense Forces said.
The military said the soldiers of the Paratroopers Brigade’s reconnaissance unit were not hurt by the bomb.
“The soldiers responded with fire and eliminated the terrorist,” the army said.
The individual was identified by the Palestinian Authority news agency WAFA as Mohammad Iyad Abahreh, 16. The agency, citing Palestinian security sources, reported that the IDF seized Abahreh’s body after killing him.
Separately, two Palestinian suspects who were driving on a road leading to the West Bank settlement of Beit El were detained on Saturday evening, the army said.
The IDF said that troops found knives and an axe in their vehicle. The two were handed over to the police for further questioning, the army added.
WAFA also reported on Saturday that a Palestinian man was shot in the foot and wounded by Israeli forces at the Qalandiya checkpoint in the West Bank south of Ramallah. There was no comment on the incident from the IDF.
Violence in the West Bank has soared since the Hamas attack on Israel triggered the Gaza war in October 2023.
More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces or settlers since the war started, according to the PA health ministry. The IDF says the vast majority of them were gunmen killed in exchanges of fire, rioters who clashed with troops, or terrorists carrying out attacks.
During the same period, 63 civilians and Israeli security personnel have been killed in terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank. Another eight members of the security forces were killed in clashes during raids in Palestinian cities in the West Bank.
The same period has also seen a major surge in attacks by settler extremists on Palestinians and their property across the West Bank. The IDF has recorded more than 750 incidents of nationalistic crime and settler violence since the start of the year. The total for 2024 was 675 incidents.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
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