JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israeli soldiers shot a Palestinian terror suspect, who later died in an Israeli hospital, during a raid on a West Bank refugee camp.
A large patrol of soldiers entered the Jenin camp early Tuesday morning to arrest a man identified by the Israel Defense Forces as “a wanted terror activist.”
Palestinian residents of the camp threw rocks, Molotov cocktails and homemade grenades at the soldiers, who responded with tear gas and other riot dispersal methods, according to the IDF.
The IDF said that some of the Palestinian rioters then shot at the soldiers, who returned fire, aiming at the rioters’ legs. The terror suspect, identified by the Palestinian Ma’an news service as Islam al-Tubasi, 22, was shot by Israeli soldiers while trying to escape arrest, according to the IDF. Other news sources said he was 19 or 20.
A second rioter shot by Israeli soldiers was evacuated to an Israeli hospital.
IDF spokesman Lt.-Col. Peter Lerner said the IDF will review the circumstances leading to the shooting of Tubasi that led to his death.
“The ongoing terrorist threat from the Jenin Area requires that the IDF maintains operational access in the area,” Lerner said in a statement. “The attack against the forces warranted a forceful response in self defense.”
