Israeli security forces killed four Palestinians overnight on Monday in Jenin during a firefight that broke out during an arrest raid.
The operation by the Border Police Special Patrol Unit (Yasam) and other teams was aimed at arresting Hamas member Muhammad Abu Zaina on suspicion of involvement in terrorist activity, the Border Police said.
Zaina is said to have been in contact with Hamas in the Gaza Strip to carry out attacks against Israelis.
“During the operation, heavy fire was directed at the force from short range and by a large number of terrorists,” the police said in a statement. “Border Police undercover forces returned fire at the terrorists and neutralized them.”
“During the operation, a number of terrorists opened massive fire, hurled explosive devices and threw Molotov cocktails and stones towards our forces,” the police said, adding that soldiers and special forces “using advanced means and capabilities returned fire.”
The security forces were unharmed, but an armored vehicle was damaged in the firefight.
Nour el-din Abdel-Ilah Muhammad Jarrar, 21, Amjad Azmi Husseinieh, 22, Saleh Amar, 19, and Raed Abu Said, 21, were killed, the Palestinian Authority Health Ministry said.
Thousands of Palestinians took part in the funerals of Ammar and Said. The security forces kept the other two bodies.
Qassam Muhammad Taha, 24, was shot in the hand, which had to be amputated, the Palestinian Ma’an News Agency reported.
A general strike and a day of mourning was declared in Jenin.
PA Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh condemned the IDF and demanded international protection for Palestinians living under Israeli occupation.
He called on the United Nations and international humanitarian organizations to condemn this “outrageous crime” and provide international protection to the Palestinian people “in light of the Israeli escalation in the murder that targets Palestinian youths and children,” the PA’s Wafa News Agency reported.
The escalation of killings, home demolitions and appropriation of land and property have escalated recently, Shtayyeh said, and they will be “raised with the International Criminal Court in The Hague to add them to the documentation of Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people.”
It was the third time in two months that an Israeli arrest operation in Jenin led to violent clashes.
In early August, six Palestinians were wounded when a firefight broke out after security forces raided the industrial zone. One Palestinian was shot in the stomach and was taken to a hospital in Nablus. Security forces shot and wounded five others.
Last month, six Palestinians were wounded during an arrest raid in Jenin when a large firefight erupted after security forces arrested five terrorist suspects and were withdrawing. They came under “massive fire” from Palestinians who hurled explosive devices at them, the security forces said.