Israeli troops on Wednesday morning surrounded a West Bank home belonging to the family of a terrorist who carried out a deadly shooting attack in Tel Aviv earlier this year, according to Palestinian media reports.
Footage published by Palestinian media outlets showed smoke rising from a building in Jenin, after Israeli troops reportedly fired small missiles at the home in the densely populated city, part of a military tactic known as “pressure cooker.”
The home reportedly belonged to the family of Ra’ad Hazem, the terrorist who opened fire on April 7 on patrons at the Ilka bar on Dizengoff street in Tel Aviv, killing three.
The Palestinian Authority health ministry said one person was killed and nine others were wounded by live fire amid the Wednesday clashes, including two listed in critical condition.
Some unsourced Hebrew-language media reports indicated the killed man was Ra’ad Hazem’s brother, Abed.
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Hazem’s father, Fathi, as well as two of his brothers, have been wanted for questioning since the attack.
Fathi Hazem publicly praised his son’s actions following the deadly assault on the busy bar.
عاجل| تغطية صحفية: "انفجار في أحد المنازل خلال محاصرة قوات الاحتلال له في جنين" pic.twitter.com/zG7iWNZzo2
— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) September 28, 2022
The Israel Defense Forces confirmed troops were operating in Jenin’s refugee camp in a brief statement.
A local wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group said its members opened fire at troops near the Hazem family home.
Hazem killed Tomer Morad and Eytam Magini, two friends aged 27, and Barak Lufan, a 35-year-old father of three, in the shooting and injured about a dozen others.
Police and rescue workers at the scene of a deadly terror attack on Dizengoff Street, central Tel Aviv, April 7, 2022 (Avshalom Sassoni/FLASH90)
He went on the run following the murders and was found hiding near a mosque in Jaffa after an hours-long manhunt involving hundreds of security officers.
While initially raising his hands in surrender, Hazem then drew a gun and opened fire on the officers, who fired back and killed him, security forces said at the time.
Earlier this month, the IDF demolished Hazem’s apartment in the Jenin refugee camp.
Fathi Hazem, the father of Raad Hazem, 28, a Palestinian terrorist who killed three Israelis and wounded several others in Tel Aviv the previous night, hugs a friend at his home on April 8, 2022 in the West Bank city of Jenin. (JAAFAR ASHTIYEH / AFP)
The IDF raid Wednesday came amid rising violence in the West Bank, particularly in its north.
On Tuesday night, Israeli troops came under gunfire near the Palestinian town of Asira ash-Shamaliya during “routine activity.”
Palestinian gunmen in recent months have targeted military posts, troops operating along the West Bank security barrier, Israeli settlements and civilians on the roads.
#عاجل تغطية صحفية: "مشهد للمنزل الذي تعرض لاستهداف من الاحتلال في #جنين". pic.twitter.com/D7yk2m6ev1
— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) September 28, 2022
In recent months Israeli troops have also repeatedly come under gunfire during nightly raids in Palestinian cities in the West Bank.
The military launched the arrest operations after a series of deadly attacks that killed 19 people between mid-March and the beginning of May, including the Tel Aviv shooting.
Many of the IDF’s arrests in recent months have concentrated on Nablus and Jenin, in the northern West Bank, where a number of the terrorists who committed the attacks earlier this year hailed from.
Israeli security officials have warned in recent months that the Palestinian Authority is losing control of the northern West Bank.
