BICOM

Two Israeli Border Police officers sustained moderate wounds yesterday in an incident near Bethlehem a day after the IDF was involved in a shoot-out in Jenin, killing a wanted Hamas operative primed to carry out a significant attack.

Yesterday’s incident took place close to Rachel’s Tomb near Bethlehem. The Palestinian Ma’an news agency says two Israeli officers were struck by rock-throwing Palestinians, but some Israeli reports say that they were hit by an explosive device and Molotov cocktails. Both were evacuated to Hadassah Hospital at Ein Kerem.

It was the most serious episode amid a number of violent incidents in the West Bank yesterday. A Molotov cocktail was thrown at an Israeli vehicle in the Burin area according to the IDF. Meanwhile, Israeli settlers and local Palestinians clashed near the Ramat Migron outpost and Israel Radio reported that approximately 40 Israeli settlers dispersed when Palestinian security arrived as they gathered near the former settlement of Homesh. One of the settlers was attacked in the nearby village of Burqa.

Yesterday’s West Bank tension came a day after a joint IDF, Shin Bet and Border Police operation in Jenin early on Saturday morning ended in the killing of a wanted Hamas operative. With Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces often unable or reluctant to operate in such areas, Israeli forces surrounded the home of 22-year-old Hamza Abu al-Hija who opened fire as he attempted to escape and was shot dead.

According to an IDF spokesman, al-Hija was “wanted for numerous shooting and bombing attacks as well as planning future acts of terrorism” and was described as a “ticking time bomb.” Israel’s Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon called the operation “an important thwarting which prevented a planned terrorist attack.” AP said hundreds of local residents and gunmen then attacked the Israeli forces with explosives and when they returned fire two additional Palestinians were killed, one an Islamic Jihad member and the other an activist in Fatah’s al-Aqsa Brigades.