Three Palestinians were killed during a confrontation with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) near the Jenin Camp in the occupied West Bank, IDF officials said on Sunday.
The IDF in a statement said that they successfully thwarted a ‘terrorist cell’ in the camp, resulting in the deaths of three individuals associated with the cell during the operation.
According to the IDF’s official statement, the head of the cell, Naif Abu Tsuik, along with two other members, was killed during the operation. An M-16 rifle was discovered in the vehicle used by the terrorists.
“A short time ago, a vehicle carrying a squad of terrorists from the Jenin refugee camp was identified while on its way to carry out an attack,” the IDF statement said.
26-year-old Naif Abu Tsuik was described by the army as a ‘leading military operative’ from the Jenin refugee camp. The IDF also claimed that he had been “involved in military action against Israeli security forces and advancing military activity directed by terrorists in the Gaza Strip”. The Gaza Strip is an autonomous area under the control of the militant organisation Hamas.
The vehicle in which the three Palestinians were travelling was hit with more than one hundred bullets, according to the Palestinian news agency Quds News Network. The vehicle, along with the bodies of the Palestinians inside, was taken away by the IDF personnel, according to eyewitness records.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the IDF for its actions, saying that “Israel will continue to act against those who seek our lives anywhere and at any time.”
The Palestinian Ministry of Health also confirmed the deaths of the three Palestinians in the Jenin attack, news agency Al Jazeera said.
The response from the Palestinian side to the killings has been swift and severe. Hazem Qassem, a spokesperson for Hamas, condemned the event as a ‘new crime’ committed by the ‘Zionist enemy’.
“The enemy, which assassinated three of our Palestinian people, will not escape paying the price of its crimes,” Qassem said in a statement. He added that the recent attack will not deter the Palestinian people from continuing their resistance against the occupation by Israel.
Mustafa Barghouti, leader of the Palestinian National Initiative party, strongly condemned the killings, denouncing them as an ‘extrajudicial killing’ and a violation of basic human rights.
“What Israel did today is another act of extrajudicial killing of Palestinian young people. It’s unlawful execution of people without any kind of judiciary process,” Barghouti was quoted by Al Jazeera.
This event has intensified the prevailing tension in the West Bank area, especially in the aftermath of an attack in Tel Aviv on Saturday night where a Palestinian gunman targeted and killed an Israeli patrolman.
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