BICOM

Three Palestinians were killed in two separate incidents overnight in the West Bank, according to the Israeli military.

In the first incident, Israel Defence Forces (IDF) surrounded a building in the West Bank village of Abwein, where Omar Abu-Lila, who shot and killed two people in an attack on Sunday at the Ariel Junction, was hiding. He was shot by the IDF after he opened fire on them as they surrounded the house he was hiding in.

Prime Minister and acting Defence Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a statement saying: “I congratulate the Shin Bet, Israel Police special anti-terror unit and the IDF on the quick action that led to the elimination of the abhorrent terrorist who murdered Sgt. Gal Keidan and Rabbi Achiad Ettinger. The long arm of Israel reaches all those who attack our civilians and our soldiers.”

On Sunday, Abu-Laila stabbed Staff Sgt. Gal Keidan at Ariel Junction and stole his rifle, shooting at three vehicles at the junction. Rabbi Achiad Ettinger, a 47-year-old father of 12, was shot and died of his wounds on Monday. A third victim, IDF soldier Alexander Dvorsky, was critically injured but is now in a stable condition.

In a separate incident in Nablus, IDF soldiers responded to explosives thrown at them by two Palestinians in the area of Joseph’s Tomb last night. There were no Israeli casualties in the incident.

The IDF said: “A number of explosives were hurled from a vehicle at Israeli army forces that were securing the entrance of worshipers at Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus. Israeli army forces responded with live fire toward the vehicle. At the same time, military engineering tools struck the vehicle. As a result, two attackers were killed.”

The two Palestinians have been identified as Ra’id Hamdan, aged 21, and Ziyad Nuri, aged 20. Palestinian media are reporting that one of the victims was the brother of Samir Nouri, , the suicide bomber from Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades who killed 23 people in a double attack in the old central bus station in Tel Aviv 16 years ago.