World News | 3 Palestinian militants killed in Israeli raid in West Bank

JABA (West Bank), March 9 (AP) – Three Palestinian militants were killed in a gun battle with Israeli troops on Thursday, the latest in an Israeli arrest spree in the occupied West Bank a fatality.

Israeli security forces said they raided the village of Jabba in the northern West Bank to arrest suspects wanted for an attack on Israeli soldiers in the area. Police said the suspects opened fire on Israeli troops, who returned fire and killed three people linked to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group.

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The Palestinian Ministry of Health identified the men as Sufyan Fakhoury, 26, Nayef Malaisha, 25, and Ahmed Fashafsha, 22, and said they were hit by Israeli fire during a military operation. A fourth man was admitted to hospital after being shot in the head and is in stable condition, sources said.

Israeli police released a photo of assault rifles, pistols, ammunition and explosive devices they said troops confiscated in Jabba, south of the city of Jenin, the flashpoint.

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The militant group said the men fired at Israeli troops from their cars. Residents gathered to check the smashed car, the seats were covered with blood. Jaba’s city center has displayed the charred car of a car from an Israeli military attack earlier this year that killed two other militants in the village.

The Jaba militant group, a fledgling militia of disillusioned young Palestinians who have taken up arms against the Israeli occupation, say it has opened fire and dropped explosive devices on Israeli troops. Residents said Israeli forces killed three members of the group, who were imprisoned by Israel, in a recent shooting at a nearby checkpoint.

The militant group claims gunmen shot down an Israeli drone during clashes with troops. The Israeli military confirmed that a drone had been shot down and said it was investigating the incident.

The Jabba militant group includes gunmen from various factions, including Palestinian Islamic Jihad and armed offshoots of the nationalist Fatah party. Militants in the village say Islamic Jihad supports the group and supplies members with weapons.

The group is part of a larger trend of emerging armed groups in the West Bank that have been launching shooting attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians, and opening fire as Israel attacks their towns in an effort to counter the increasingly unpopular Palestinian Authority. In the northern West Bank, where much of the fighting is concentrated, the Palestinian Authority’s grip is fading as young Palestinians’ hopes of statehood fade.

The streets of the Jabba slum were filled with young Palestinians dressed in black, chanting slogans against the Israeli occupation and firing into the air as they held up the bodies of militants.

Yousef Hammour, 28, who was part of the funeral procession, said Palestinian anger against Israel had intensified as arrests intensified.

“Everyone is shocked, everyone is outraged,” Yusuf Hammer said. “Every day, they’re killing more and more of us. If they attack us, we attack them.”

This year has been marked by escalating violence across the West Bank, with Israeli military attacks turning into protracted firefights with armed Palestinians.

Earlier this week, at least six Palestinians were killed in an Israeli attack on the Jenin refugee camp. Walid Nasser, 14, died Thursday from injuries sustained in Tuesday’s raid, the Palestinian health ministry said.

At least 74 Palestinians, about half of them militants, have been killed in Israeli attacks on the West Bank since the start of the year. Meanwhile, 14 people, including only one civilian, were killed in Palestinian attacks on Israelis.

Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war, territories that the Palestinians are seeking for a future state. Over the decades, more than 500,000 Jewish settlers have moved into dozens of settlements that the international community considers illegal and an obstacle to peace. (Associated Press)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)