Click to see full-size image. (The Israeli Defense Forces)
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced on December 17 that it carried out a drone strike against a group of Palestinian gunmen in the occupied West Bank’s Nur Shams refugee camp during an overnight operation.
In a statement, the IDF said that reservists and Border Police officers arrested four wanted Palestinians and seized two firearms while operating in the camp.
IDF engineering vehicles uncovered explosive devices planted under and on the sides of roads in the camp, which were intended to be detonated against troops, the IDF alleged. It also said troops found an explosive device inside a clinic in Nur Shams, where wanted Palestinians were hiding.
During the operation, Palestinian gunmen opened fire and others hurled explosive devices and Molotov cocktails at Israeli troops.
“Aircraft struck a number of armed terror squads who fired at, hurled explosives at and endangered the troops,” the IDF said, adding that at least four gunmen were killed and others were wounded.
The Palestinian Authority official news agency, Wafaa, reported that four were killed in an Israeli drone strike on Nur Shams. However, it didn’t confirm that they were gunmen.
Wafaa also reported that a man wounded in a similar strike that targeted the Jenin refugee camp last week has succumbed to his wounds.
Since the outbreak of the war in the Gaza Strip on October 7, Israeli troops have arrested over 2,400 Palestinians across the West Bank. In addition, some 280 West Bank Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces, and in a few cases settlers.