Police: Undercover officers kill two Palestinian gunmen during raid near Jericho
Border Police say forces entered Aqabat Jabr refugee camp to arrest wanted man; Palestinian gunmen also target IDF post near Yabed for 3rd time in days
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
Two Palestinian gunmen were killed early Tuesday during an exchange of fire with Israeli forces amid a raid in the Aqabat Jabr refugee camp, close to the West Bank city of Jericho, Israeli defense officials and Palestinian health officials said.
A Border Police spokesman said undercover officers entered Aqabat Jabr to detain a wanted Palestinian man and to search for weapons at his home.
During the raid, Palestinian gunmen opened fire at the forces, the spokesman said, adding that the undercover officers returned fire, killing two.
The Palestinian Authority health ministry said 16-year-old Qusay Omar Suleiman al-Walaji and 25-year-old Muhammed Ribihi Nujoom were both fatally shot in the chest.
Police later published a video showing the officers exchanging fire with Palestinians in the refugee camp.
Violence has surged across the West Bank over the past year and a half, with a rise in Palestinian shooting attacks against Israeli civilians and troops, near-nightly arrest raids by the military, and an uptick in attacks by extremist Jewish settlers against Palestinians.
عاجل : استشهاد الشابين قصي عمر الولجي ومحمد ربحي نجوم برصاص قوات الاحتلال خلال اقتحام مخيم عقبة جبر بأريحا pic.twitter.com/fEdzJ7ZEOV
— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) August 15, 2023
The IDF, meanwhile, said that troops detained eight wanted Palestinians during sweeps across the West Bank early Tuesday, with violence in some areas.
Late Monday night, Palestinian gunmen opened fire from the northern West Bank town of Yabed at a nearby IDF post, for the third time in four days.
The military said the troops at the post, who were unharmed, returned fire at the source of the shooting.
Palestinians targeted the same IDF post on Sunday and Friday, without causing any injuries.
Palestinian terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank have left 26 people dead and several others seriously wounded since the beginning of the year.
According to a tally by The Times of Israel, 171 West Bank Palestinians have also been killed during the same period — most of them during clashes with security forces or while carrying out attacks, but some were uninvolved civilians and others were killed under unclear circumstances, including by armed Israeli settlers.
