An IDF soldier was killed in the West Bank on Tuesday when a large rock was thrown at his head near the city of Jenin.
Staff Sergeant Amit Ben Yigal, 21, and his comrades from a reconnaissance unit of the Golani Brigade were conducting arrests of four terror suspects in the village of Yabed, the IDF said.
As the troops were leaving the village a large stone was hurled off the roof of one of the buildings in which arrests were being conducted in the village, The perpetrator of the attack lay waiting for the soldier to look up and then dropped the rock on his head. Ben Yigal sustained critical injuries.
He was evacuated to the Rambam Healthcare Campus in Haifa where he was pronounced dead.
IDF troops were searching for the stone-throwers.
The IDF soldier was killed during an operation to arrest terror suspects in the village when a stone was thrown on him from the roof of a building.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said following the incident that Israel's long arm will find the terrorists responsible.
Defense Minister Naftali Bennet said the IDF would pursue the terrorists responsible for the death of the soldier and bring them to justice.
President Reuven Rivlin paid tribute to the soldier and also vowed that Israel would find his killers.
Ben Yigal, from the city of Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv, is the first IDF casualty in the West Bank since the beginning of the year.
His father told Kan Radio that Amit was an only child, "he was the only purpose of my life, I don't know how I will go on."
The fallen soldier was posthumously promoted to sergeant first class.
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Senior IDF officers in the village of Yabed where an IDF soldier was killed
(Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
The Hamas terror organization praised the killing saying, "the incident proves our the ability of our people in the West Bank to continue their struggle against the occupation until the Israeli military and the settlements are pushed out."
In the statement released by Hamas, the organization claimed the Palestinians are fighting Israel's intentions of the annexation of parts of the West Bank and they alone will determine the fate of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict adding the Palestinians will prevail despite the United States' assistance to Israel.
First published: 09:57, 05.12.20