A Palestinian was killed by Israeli security forces on Sunday in the West Bank, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. The ministry confirmed in a brief statement that one Palestinian "was shot with live bullets and arrived at Ibn Sina Hospital in critical condition from the village of Burqin" southwest of the city of Jenin in the West Bank. In contrast, the Israeli army reported the deaths of 4 Palestinians during exchanges of gunfire between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian militants in 4 towns in the West Bank, as reported by the "Times of Israel."
The exchange of fire between Israeli soldiers and Palestinians occurred early Sunday during Israeli authorities' raids to capture members of a Hamas cell in the city of Jenin. During a raid conducted by the Israeli police's anti-terror unit in the village of Biddu near Ramallah as part of the operation, at least three Hamas members were killed after they opened fire on Israeli forces, according to Israeli army spokesperson Ran Kochav. He added that no Israeli soldiers were injured in the exchanges of gunfire.
Kochav stated that the army believes Hamas may respond to the killing and arrest of its members by launching rockets from the Gaza Strip. Earlier this month, the Islamic Jihad movement launched rockets toward Israel in solidarity with its members who escaped from the high-security Gilboa prison and were later recaptured by Israeli security forces. The Palestinian news agency (Wafa) confirmed that a young Palestinian named Osama Yasser Subh (22 years old) was killed by Israeli forces during "violent" clashes in the town of Burqin, west of Jenin.
Recent months have seen an escalation of violence in the West Bank, with increasing exchanges of gunfire between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants; last month, 4 Palestinians were killed in the Jenin refugee camp by Israeli forces during violent clashes.
