Jerusalem (CNN) Israeli forces carried out a daylight raid targeting a suspect in the killing of two Jewish settlers in Jenin in the occupied West Bank, officials on both sides said Tuesday, killing the suspect and at least five other Palestinians. .
The Israel Defense Forces named the suspect Abdul-Fattah Hussein Kharousha and described him as a “Hamas terrorist operator”. The Palestinian Health Ministry identified Kharousha, 49, as one of the six killed in Jenin. The ministry said the other five were all men in their 20s, and at least 11 others were injured.
Hamas issued a brief statement saying it “mourns the martyrs of the heroic Jenin camp,” but did not immediately claim Kharosha as a member.
He said that IDF forces conducted a separate raid in the West Bank city of Nablus at the same time to arrest Kharousha’s two sons. The army said they were “suspected of aiding and abetting a terrorist attack”, adding that they were in custody for questioning.
This is at least the third attack in broad daylight this year. The last two – one in Jenin and one in Nablus – each resulted in 11 Palestinians being killed, including terrorists targeted by Israeli Defense Forces, people clashing with Israeli forces, and bystanders.
People gather by the side of a road during an Israeli military raid on the Jenin camp for Palestinian refugees in the West Bank on Tuesday.
On February 26, brothers Hillel Yaniv, 21, and Yagel Yaniv, a Jewish settler through Huwara in the West Bank, were shot dead. They lived in the nearby Israeli settlement of Har Bracha.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the operation “today killed the despicable terrorist who murdered two beloved brothers Hillel and Yagael Yaniv in cold blood.” Netanyahu concluded a brief video statement by saying: “As I say again and again, again and again: whoever hurts us – his blood will be on his own head.”
An IDF official told CNN that during Tuesday’s raid on the Jenin refugee camp, IDF forces surrounded Kharosha’s home, came under fire and responded with shoulder-fired missiles.
Two IDF soldiers were wounded in the operation, one of whom suffered life-threatening injuries, the official said, adding that IDF forces had “trouble” in leaving Jenin due to burning tires and roadblocks. The official asked not to be named to CNN Briefing on the information that has not yet been released publicly.