The Israeli army said on Sunday (August 6) that it killed three Palestinian militants in West Bank, adding its forces operated to prevent an immediate threat. According to a statement, the army said one of the militants was a “leading military operative” from the Jenin refugee camp. “A vehicle carrying a squad of terrorists from the Jenin refugee camp was identified while on its way to carry out an attack,” the statement said.
Soldiers opened fire and killed the three passengers, including the suspected squad leader, 26-year-old Nayef Abu Swiess, the statement added. Abu Swiess was “involved in military action against Israeli security forces and advancing military activity directed by terrorists in the Gaza Strip,” the statement further said.
Confirming the deaths, the Palestinian health ministry said the three young men were killed by occupation bullets in the incident near the town of Arraba in the Jenin area. Speaking to the news agency AFP, Jenin Kamal Abu Al-Roub said the army took the car and the bodies.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the troops for killing the militants who he said were on their way to attack Israeli citizens. “We will continue to take action — everywhere and at any moment — against those who seek to attack us,” Prime Minister Netanyahu said in a statement.
This incident is the latest in a series of a string of attacks by Palestinians on Israeli targets, as well as violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinian communities and repeated Israeli army raids.
Later on Sunday, the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad vowed to respond to the latest killings. “The enemy will soon see that its foolish actions and terror will be met with a strong response by the resistance,” it said in a statement.
Hamas, meanwhile, said, “Our Palestinian people and their courageous resistance will not let the occupation’s aggression pass without a price.”
