Three Palestinians preparing to carry out an attack were killed by Israeli forces near Jenin on Sunday August 6. Jenin refugee camp is one of Palestinian armed groups’ strongholds in the West Bank.
Israeli forces on Sunday killed three Palestinian militants in the West Bank, the army said, the latest deaths in a surge of violence rocking the occupied territory.
An army statement said its forces “operated to prevent an immediate threat” and described one of the dead as a “leading military operative” from the Jenin refugee camp, a militant stronghold in the northern West Bank.
Since early last year, the West Bank has seen a string of attacks by Palestinians on Israeli targets, as well as violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinian communities and repeated Israeli army raids.
Soldiers opened fire and killed three passengers, the statement said, including the suspected squad leader, 26-year-old Nayef Abu Swiess.
Mourners later lay flowers at the site where the Palestinians were killed on Sunday, an AFP correspondent reported.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the troops for killing the militants who he said were on their way “to attack Israeli citizens”.
Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad meanwhile vowed to respond to the latest deaths.
Jenin refugee camp, one of the most crowded and impoverished in the West Bank, has become synonymous with Palestinian militancy and resistance against Israel, which views it as a “terrorist hub”.
Violence this year linked to the conflict has killed at least 211 Palestinians, 28 Israelis, one Ukrainian and one Italian, according to an AFP tally compiled from official sources on both sides.
Malo Pinatel, with AFP
