Palestinian opens fire on soldiers in Hebron, is shot dead

IDF forces shot and killed a Palestinian man in the West Bank city of Hebron on Wednesday night after he opened fire on them.

The soldiers were carrying out searches for illegal weapons when they encountered the man. “In response to the immediate threat, forces fired towards him, killing him,” the army said in a statement.

An IDF spokesperson told The Times of Israel that the Palestinian shot at the troops first, leading the soldiers to shoot him.

No soldiers were wounded.

Since 2015, the army has been on a mission to try rid the West Bank of illegally made and traded weapons, raiding suspected gunsmithing workshops and warehouses on an almost weekly basis. The campaign has led to a sharp rise in the cost to terrorists of acquiring such weapons.

Forces have uncovered several arms workshops in Hebron and other West Bank cities as part of the effort to shut down arms manufacturing.

In the first quarter of 2017 the army shuttered 20 suspected gun-making workshops and seized about 150 guns, putting it on track to far surpass its numbers from last year. In 2016, the army closed 44 workshops and confiscated approximately 450 weapons.