IDF: 4 soldiers hurt, several Palestinian gunmen killed in West Bank raid
Palestinians say top Islamic Jihad terrorists among those killed in clashes with soldiers in Nur Shams; army bulldozers rip up roads to search for bombs
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
Several Palestinian gunmen were killed and four soldiers were wounded during a counter-terrorism raid in the West Bank’s Nur Shams refugee camp, close to Tulkarem, the military said Friday afternoon. Palestinian media said a senior Islamic Jihad terrorists was among the dead.
The Israel Defense Forces said its troops and Border Police officers raided Nur Shams overnight, during which several wanted Palestinians were detained, explosive devices were discovered, and several gunmen were killed in clashes throughout the morning.
Palestinian media outlets report that a senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist Muhammad Jaber, known as Abu Shuja’a, was killed in the raid.
He was the commander of PIJ’s local wing in Tulkarem, the reports said.
The reports also named a second person killed, identifying him as as 30-year-old Salim Ghannam. At least on other person was injured.
The Palestinian health ministry in Ramallah also said that a Qais Fathi Nasrallah, 16, was killed. The official Palestinian news agency Wafa said he died after being “shot in the head by Israeli live gunfire.” It was unclear when he actually died.
The army said it scanned buildings and used bulldozers to rip up roads where bombs were suspected to have been planted.
⭕️استشهاد قائد كتيبة طولكرم في سرايا القدس وأحد مؤسسيها الشهيد محمد جابر "أبو شجاع" بعد محاصرة قوات الاحتلال مخيم نور شمس لأكثر من 18 ساعة ليلتحق بشقيقه الشهيد محمود. pic.twitter.com/Hqdhp115UZ
— إذاعة الأقصى – عاجل (@Alaqsavoice_Brk) April 19, 2024
An officer of the Marom Brigade and a soldier of the brigade’s elite LOTAR unit were moderately injured, and two soldiers of the Kfir Brigade’s Haruv reconnaissance unit were lightly hurt amid the operation, the IDF said.
Tensions in Israel and the West Bank have soared since October 7, when terrorists burst through the Gaza border into Israel in a Hamas-led attack, killing at least 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and seizing 253 hostages.
Since October 7, Israeli troops have arrested some 3,850 wanted Palestinians across the West Bank, including more than 1,650 affiliated with Hamas, according to the IDF.
The Palestinian Authority health ministry has said more than 450 West Bank Palestinians have been killed in that time. The IDF says the vast majority of them were gunmen or terrorists carrying out attacks.
