An Israeli soldier injured on Friday (May 13th) in an army raid near the Palestinian town of Jenin in the northern occupied West Bank has succumbed to his wounds, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said.
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“Today we lost a true hero, a brave fighter…who put himself at risk for Israel’s security“, during an operation near Jenin, the scene of recurring clashes where a Palestinian-American journalist was killed on Wednesday, according to a press release from the Prime Minister. According to Israeli police, policeman Noam Raz was 47 years old and lived in an Israeli settlement south of Nablus in the West Bank, Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967.
The Israeli army had previously reported that a member of the Yamam special unit, a police commando, was injured in an altercation with gunmen during a joint operation by several units in Burqin, a few kilometers from Jenin. During this operation,armed assailants threw explosive devices and fired at the (Israeli) forces, who responded by opening firethe army said in a statement. His raid was aimed at “arrest individuals suspected of being involved in terrorist activities“, according to her. A suspect who had barricaded himself in his home ended up surrendering to Israeli forces, like his brother, according to the army.
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The latter has multiplied in recent weeks the raids in the Jenin region and in particular in its refugee camp, a stronghold of the Palestinian armed factions from which the perpetrators of recent attacks in Israel originated. On Wednesday, an Al Jazeera reporter, Shireen Abu Akleh, was killed in Jenin while covering an Israeli raid. She was buried Friday in Jerusalem.
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