Israeli officer killed, Palestinian militants wounded in Jenin standoff
Jack Khoury, Yaniv Kubovich, Josh Breiner, Hagar Shezaf | May 13, 2022 | 9:05 AM
- Haaretz.com
▻https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.HIGHLIGHT-palestinian-wounded-during-israeli-raid-in-jenin-two-day
Israeli officer killed, Palestinian militants wounded in Jenin standoff
Islamic Jihad militants surrender after hours of fighting around the Jenin refugee camp, where journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was killed earlier this week
An Israeli officer wounded during an hours-long standoff with Palestinian militants at the Jenin refugee camp on Friday succumbed to his wounds, Border Police said. The fighting also left two Palestinians in critical condition.
At least 13 Palestinians were wounded in clashes in the city and nearby village of Burqin, in the northern West Bank, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Two of them are in critical condition.
Israeli police said a member of its Special Anti-Terror Unit was shot in Burqin, in the northern West Bank. 47-year-old Noam Raz was taken to hospital in serious condition and was later pronounced dead.
Raz was a resident of the illegal outpost Kida and served for 23 years in the Police Special Anti-Terror Unit. He was married and a father of six. “We lost a true hero today,” Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said.
A group of Islamic Jihad militants had been holed up in a house at the refugee camp, two days after a Palestinian-American journalist was killed there. Two militants eventually turned themselves in to Israeli forces, who surrounded the building.
Israel has conducted near-daily raids in Jenin and other parts of the West Bank in recent weeks, following a series of deadly attacks in Israel carried out by militants from the area.
According to Palestinian reports, Daoud Zubeidi, brother of prominent Fatah military leader Zakaria Zubeidi, was hit in the stomach during Friday’s clashes, and was taken to a local hospital in critical condition.
The Israeli force surrounded the house of Mahmoud al-Daba’i, an Islamic Jihad militant. The Palestinian group’s armed with, al-Quds Brigade, said its fighters were responding with fire at the Israeli force. Daba’i and his brother eventually surrendered.
Residents in the area of Jenin said Israeli forces fired a projectile towards a home near Jenin on Friday in an apparent effort to arrest suspects inside. Palestine TV footage showed black plumes of smoke rising from the house. The Israeli military did not immediately comment.
On Wednesday, Shireen Abu Akleh, a reporter for Qatar-based Al Jazeera network, was killed in an exchange of gunfire between Israeli forces and Palestinian gunmen in the same area.
Military officials said that some of the forces that went into the Jenin refugee camp on Friday were there as part of the Israeli probe into Abu Akleh’s death.
Her funeral is expected later on Friday in Jerusalem. The procession will begin at 2 P.M. in the Shiekh Jarrah neighborhood, in the city’s east, followed by a march through the Old City’s Jaffa Gate and on to the Roman Catholic church in the Christian Quarter, where the funeral will take place. She will then be laid to rest at the Greek Catholic cemetery on Mount Zion.
Earlier on Friday, Israeli soldiers fired at a Palestinian man who the military said attempted to carry out an attack against Israelis near the settlement of Beit El.
The suspect was taken to a hospital in Jerusalem in moderate condition, and no Israeli casualties were reported.
In a statement, a military spokesperson said the suspect threw a concrete block at an Israeli car and tried to open the car’s doors before being shot. After the suspect’s arrest, a knife and a bottle with acid were found on him.
Reuters contributed to this report.