West Bank: 5 Palestinians killed in IDF operation
Commander of al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, Fatah's military wing, killed with two other gunmen as IDF force spots group in village of Yamoun, near Jenin. Eyewitness: Force ambushed gunmen, but first hit two civilians
The IDF reported that during an elite unit's operation in the village, the sources spotted a group of gunmen, opened fire and hit six of them.
Soldiers who searched the building where the gunmen were staying found two M-16 rifles, a gun, magazines and other weapons.
The Palestinians reported that among one of the group members killed was al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades commander in the village, Taher Abahera. The other two group members killed were Salim Abu al-hija and Mahmoud Abu Hassan.
According to eyewitnesses, the force ambushed the gunmen but first hit two civilians who were nearby. The two are Ayman Abu-Abid and Ala Hameisah, who was on his way to the village clinic. Later, exchanges of fire erupted between the soldiers and the gunmen.
Al-Aqsa: We promise a painful revenge
Iyad Falihat, an al-Aqsa commander in the village, told Ynet that the three organization members were "executed."
According to him, "the three were wounded in their legs and fled to a nearby bakery, but the soldiers chased them, and instead of arresting them they shot them to death, and in fact executed them in cold blood."
Falihat warned that his organization would not ignore the incident.
"For a long time now, almost two years, we have been committed to a calm, but the blood of our shahids (martyrs) will not be in vain. We promise a painful and difficult revenge. The Jewish pigs will be drinking from the glass we drank from this morning. They will quickly taste the pain we tasted this morning," he said.
Falihat said that throughout the entire incident there was an IDF drone in the air: "Because of the drone, we were very careful, but the soldiers ambushed us."
The IDF reported that soldiers arrested 14 terror suspects on Tuesday night in the West Bank. During an elite unit's operation in Qalqilya, the force besieged a building in which two wanted Hamas members were hiding.
While they were besieging the building, the troops spotted one of the suspects attempting to escape. The force fired at him and hit the bottom part of his body. The man was evacuated for medical treatment at an Israeli hospital and is expected to be later interrogated by security forces. All the suspects were taken into interrogation by security forces.
Efrat Weiss contributed to the report
