Two Palestinians were arrested Thursday morning on suspicion of planning to carry out a terrorist attack in the central city of Netanya.
Netanya Police officers, with assistance from special police and security forces, launched a manhunt after the Palestinians, who entered Israel illegally from the West Bank, after receiving intelligence indicating the two were planning an attack.
The police temporarily closed off several roads until the pair was captured at a car wash in the city’s open-air market.
A police sapper scanned the scene to determine there was no further danger from explosives and the suspects were taken in for questioning. A police search found a knife in the possession of one of them.
Earlier on Thursday, the Palestinians reported that two Palestinians were killed in clashes with Israeli troops during a nighttime raid on the West Bank city of Jenin.
According to the report, a large Israeli convoy of dozens of armored vehicles entered Jenin to arrest wanted terror suspects. Israeli security forces arrested Khaled abu Zina, a released security prisoner and a senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) operative, alongside his two sons and another wanted person, and seized large amounts of munitions.
Abu Zina, 63, later denied the Palestinian report of his arrest and said that two of his sons, Awas and Hanni, were arrested.
During overnight Thursday's operation, Palestinian gunmen opened fire and began hurling explosives at Israeli troops, who returned fire.
Two Palestinians were reportedly killed in the ensuing shootout — Adham Jabarin, a former security prisoner and a senior member of PIJ's military wing Al-Quds Brigades; and Jawad Bawaqneh, a 57-year-old school teacher who was reportedly killed by IDF fire in his home.
According to Palestinian reports, Jabarin took part in the firefight and was shot and killed by an Israeli sniper when he tried to escape in his car next to the teacher's home. Bawaqneh was reportedly not involved in the shooting.
Meanwhile, the IDF reported that two Israeli soldiers have sustained light injuries from an explosive charge lobbed at them. One of them required medical treatment.
Nine Palestinians were killed in clashes with Israeli forces since the beginning of the year. The Palestinians announced a general strike in Jenin on Thursday in response to the death of Jabarin and Bawaqneh.