Two Palestinians were shot dead during firefights with the IDF near the West Bank city of Jenin early on Monday, Palestinian sources said.
The IDF were operating in the area in order to demolish the homes of terrorists that were involved in the killing of Maj. Bar Falah last September.
In response to the operation, shots were fired and demolition charges were thrown at Israeli security forces who returned fire. Palestinians media reported two casualties, there were no casualties among Israeli security forces.
The killing of Maj. Bar Falah
Maj. Bar Falah, 30, deputy commander of the Nahal Brigade’s Reconnaissance Battalion, was killed in an exchange of fire with two Palestinian gunmen near the village of Jalama, north of Jenin in early September.
The incident began around 11:30 p.m. on the night of September 11, when soldiers identified two suspects approaching the fence along the Seam Line near a military post. The suspects, who were not initially identified as being armed, approached to within 15 meters of the fence and laid down.
Forces, including Falah and OC Menashe Brigade Col. Arik Moyal, were deployed to the area where the suspects had been identified. A Zik drone was rushed to the area but was not used.
The forces split into two, one led by Falah and the other by Moyal, in an attempt to surprise the gunmen, who then opened fire on troops who had approached within several meters.
The soldiers did not know that the suspects were armed until they opened fire on them around 2:30 a.m. and hit Falah, OC Judea and Samaria Division Brig.-Gen. Avi Bluth said.
“The force was a very skilled force that had been in the area for quite some time and carried out very challenging operations, including the home demolition of a terrorist’s house,” Bluth said.
The force had prevented an attack “since they were close to an IDF position,” he said. “It could have been an ambush that the terrorists planned against the position or against a patrol that was set to pass through that point.”
“It could have been an ambush that the terrorists planned against the position or against a patrol that was set to pass through that point.”
OC Judea and Samaria Division Brig.-Gen. Avi Bluth
The two gunmen were identified by Palestinian media as Ahmed Abed, an intelligence officer in the Palestinian Authority Security Forces, and Abdul Rahman Abed, from the village of Kafr Dan, near Jenin.
Fatah’s al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades took responsibility for the attack, saying both the shooters were members of the terrorist organization.
Anna Ahronhiem contributed to this report.