IDF soldier wounded near Jenin

Soldier wounded after IDF soldiers operate against Palestinian Islamic Jihad members
By Efrat Weiss

JENIN - An IDF soldier sustained light to moderate wounds Wednesday after Palestinian gunmen opened fire at troops operating in the Jenin area, in the West Bank.

The soldier was treated at the scene and later evacuated to Hillel Yaffe hospital in Hadera.

The shooting occurred in the afternoon as IDF units followed up an intelligence report that a local Palestinian Islamic Jihad cell was planning to launch terrorist attacks.

During the course of the operation, the units came under fire but no one was injured.

However, a half hour later, the Palestinians opened fire again, this time wounding a soldier.

The army stressed that the operation did not occur in the city of Jenin or in neighboring villages.

Violence reported elsewhere

Meanwhile, an IDF unit spotted three Palestinians preparing to hurl Molotov cocktails at passing cars on the way to the West Bank settlement of Elon Moreh. The soldiers arrested the suspects, who are now being interrogated by security authorities.

Earlier Wednesday, three Palestinians were wounded by Israeli security guards along the Green Line near the Rantiss Junction, north of Ramallah. One of the Palestinians suffered severe injuries while the two others sustained light wounds.

The guards said that they opened fire after close to 500 Palestinians began throwing stones at them.