Tel Aviv, Jul. 6, (dpa/GNA) – An Israeli was killed in an attack in the West Bank on Thursday, according to the Israeli emergency rescue service Magen David Adom.
Media reports said the attacker was Palestinian and was killed. The Israeli military said the individual had been “neutralized.”
A spokesman for Palestinian militant group Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip on the other side of Israel, spoke of a “natural reaction to the Jenin massacre” in the Palestinian West Bank.
Israel’s military ended its largest operation in the occupied West Bank in 20 years on Wednesday. Israel carried out air raids on Jenin and thousands of Israeli soldiers moved into the city, which has been home to a major Palestinian refugee camp since the 1950s.
The Israeli government said the soldiers were there to smash the “terrorist infrastructure” in a city they said is well-known for militants. They exchanged gunfire with armed Palestinians.
At least 12 Palestinians and one Israeli soldier died in the operation. More than 100 Palestinians were injured.
The Israeli military said the Palestinians killed in the operation were all militants.
On Tuesday, a Palestinian attacker drove into a crowd in Tel Aviv, injuring at least seven people. Hamas also described that attack as a “reaction” to events in Jenin.
Since the beginning of the year, two dozen people have died in attacks by Palestinians. During the same period, more than 150 Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli forces during violent clashes, Israeli military operations or after their own attacks.
GNA