Four Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces on Thursday, including a Palestinian Islamic Jihad member involved in the death of Yamam Counterterrorism Unit officer Noam Raz in May.
Israeli forces clashed with Palestinians after entering Jenin to arrest 28-year-old Farouk Salame, who had been involved in a number of shooting attacks against Israelis.
Salame, who was set to be married next week, was killed after he drew a handgun at forces.
Security forces seized his handgun, as well as another M-16 rifle and other weapons. Five other suspects were detained during the raid.
During the clashes, another Palestinian identified as 14-year-old Muhammad Khalouf was killed by forces. Three others were injured.
“Under real danger and threat to our forces, you succeeded in hitting the wanted person who engaged in significant terrorist activity and was even involved in the incident in which the late Yamam Sr.-NCO Noam Raz was killed,” Border Police commander Amir Cohen told the officers who took part in the daylight operation.
Earlier in the morning, a Palestinian supporter of the Lions’ Den terrorist group was shot dead in Jerusalem’s Old City after injuring three Israel Police officers in a stabbing attack.
The attacker was identified as 20-year-old Amer Halabiyeh from the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Hanina.
Police said Halabiyeh entered the Old City from the Damascus Gate and was stopped in the Muslim Quarter after arousing suspicion. As security forces checked him, he drew a knife and stabbed one of the officers in the upper body.
Two other officers shot Amer, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Magen David Adom said a 30-year-old was in moderate condition and a 25-year-old was hit by shrapnel and was in light condition. Both were evacuated to Shaare Zedek Medical Center.
Police later raided Halabiyeh’s home and arrested several family members, including his mother and sister.
The attack came just hours after another Palestinian, 42-year-old Daoud Khalil Rayyan, was shot in the chest by troops in the village of Beit Duqqu northwest of Jerusalem after he threw a Molotov cocktail toward the force operating there.
The troops were in the village, the hometown of the terrorist who ran over an IDF officer at the Bell checkpoint near Modi’in on Wednesday, when violent clashes broke out.
The attacker was identified as 54-year-old Habes Rayyan, who was killed by the officer as he attempted to strike him with an axe.
Israeli security forces also conducted other operations throughout the West Bank as part of Operation Break the Wave, arresting 14 wanted suspects.
The attack in Jerusalem’s Old City came shortly after the military announced it had lifted the almost month-long closure on Nablus on Thursday morning, after close to 10 days without a shooting attack by the Lions’ Den.
The closure was placed on the West Bank city of 170,000 people after a number of terrorist attacks claimed by the Lions’ Den, including a drive-by shooting that killed 21-year-old St.-Sgt. Ido Baruch from the Givati Reconnaissance Unit.
All roads in and out of the city, including neighboring villages, were closed and individuals were only permitted to leave on certain roads and only after a “strict security check.”
According to Army Radio, the decision to lift the lockdown came after the majority of the group’s members were arrested, killed or turned themselves in to the Palestinian Authority security forces.
Over the past month, the IDF has focused its operations in Nablus to thwart the group from planning or carrying out more attacks.
Last week, five Palestinians were killed in a raid by Israeli security forces, including a senior member of the group, Wadi al-Houh. Houh was seen in a photo with Salame, showing the connection between Salame and the Lions’ Den.
According to reports, Houh was considered a founding member of the Nablus-based group. His home was used as a hub where connections were made between bomb-makers and locals who would carry out attacks.
The raid came less than 48 hours after another senior member of the group, Tamer al-Kilani, was killed in an explosion in the Old City of Nablus. Palestinians blamed Israel for what they called an “assassination,” claiming that a collaborator placed an explosive device on a motorcycle that detonated as he walked by.
Kilani was reportedly personally involved in several attacks, including numerous shootings around Nablus and sending a terrorist with a gun and pipe bomb to Tel Aviv. The latter was averted by Israeli law enforcement on the spot, but had the potential to be a serious terrorist attack that could have resulted in a high number of casualties.
According to a report in Haaretz, 20-year-old Muhammad Minawi was sent by Kilani to attack a synagogue in Bnei Brak after senior Lions’ Den leader Ibrahim al-Nablusi was killed during clashes with Israeli security forces in August.
The report said that while Minawi was sent to Bnei Brak, he ultimately decided to find a crowded place in Tel Aviv and “become a martyr” for the group.
"Restore security to the streets"
Otzmah Yehudit Leader Itamar Ben-Gvir called to restore security in response to news of the attack, and sent well wishes to the injured."The twilight of the Gantz-Lapid government ends with another stabbing attack," said Ben-Gvir. "It's time to restore security to the streets, it's time to put order here, it's time to have a head of the household here, it's time that a terrorist who goes out to carry out an attack is eliminated!"
The attack comes a day after a car ramming attack in Beit Horon in which an IDF officer was injured. The officer fired back at the Palestinian attacker, killing him.
Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.