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Attacker killed as Israeli troops come under fire in West Bank

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A Palestinian gunman was shot dead after he opened fire on IDF soldiers in the West Bank yesterday evening. Two other suspects were arrested in the incident.

The soldiers, from the Netzah Yehuda battalion, were on a patrol near the village of Turmus Aya when the assailants opened fire. An IDF statement said that “forces responded with fire towards the attackers” and that, “One hit was confirmed and two suspects have been detained at the scene.” Palestinian authorities later identified the dead man as 24-year-old Mohammed Munir Hassan Salah from the village of Aurora. None of the IDF soldiers were wounded in the incident.

Several shooting attacks on Israelis travelling in the West Bank have been carried out during the current wave of violence, which has seen at least 14 Israelis killed since the start of October. Last week, gunmen killed Rabbi Yaakov Litman and his 18-year-old son Netanel near Otniel in the southern West Bank.

Meanwhile, yesterday morning IDF special forces, in conjunction with the Shin Bet internal security agency, carried out a series of preventative arrests in and around the West Bank city of Nablus. Guns, grenades and ammunition were seized in the operation. A large stash of cash was also uncovered, which Israeli security forces suspect was earmarked for use by Hamas.

Overnight, Israel’s Air Force struck two strategic Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip, after a rocket was fired towards Israel. It is unclear whether the rocket landed in Israeli territory or not, but there were no reports of damage or casualties. The IDF said that “terror infrastructure” had been hit in response. In a separate incident yesterday afternoon, rocket warning sirens were sounded in two southern Israeli communities and the Iron Dome anti-missile defence system was activated in what was thought to be a rocket attack, but proved eventually to be a false alarm.