Israeli Forces Kill Three Islamic Jihad Militants

Islamic Jihad claimed the three, who the Israeli military said were “suspected of multiple shooting attacks in Jaba village, southwest of Jenin, where two Islamic Jihad gunmen were killed in January,” as well as in the area of the nearby Jewish settlement

The incident came on the same day U.S. Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin was visiting Israel, where he was expected to discuss the “growing violence on the West Bank, which has seen repeated Israeli raids and attacks on Israeli civilians” by Palestinians.

Residents said they heard ‘intense gunfire’ early in the morning and saw a large Israeli force in the streets, where the blood-spattered wreckage of the car remained in the street.

A Israeli statement said the gunmen had opened fire from their car when Israeli forces entered the area. It said two members of Islamic Jihad were killed as well as what it described as an additional armed suspect.

“Police seized two rifles and another gun as well as explosive devices and arrested three other suspects.” According to Noaman Khalileya, owner of a local garage near to where the incident took place, security forces also confiscated his security camera and erased pictures on his mobile telephone.

The operation came days after Israeli forces raided a refugee camp in Jenin and killed six Palestinian gunmen, including a Hamas member suspected of killing two brothers from a Jewish settlement in the West Bank on Feb. 26.

Reuters/Shakirat