A gunman opened fire at an Israeli military checkpoint in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, killing two soldiers before being shot dead by troops, the Israeli military said.
The attack occurred in the morning at a military post in Tayasir, in the northern West Bank, according to a military statement.
“A terrorist fired at soldiers at a military post in Tayasir,” the statement said, adding that troops killed the attacker in a shootout.
Two other soldiers were critically wounded, while six sustained minor injuries.
The Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad praised the “heroic” attack, stating that “the resistance will continue until the occupation is defeated.”
Israeli forces have been conducting what the army describes as an “operation to thwart terrorism” in and around the northern city of Jenin, a known stronghold for militant activity.
Major General Avi Bluth, the Israeli commander responsible for the West Bank, said Tuesday’s attack underscored the “necessity” of continuing military operations in the region.
“This morning’s engagement with a despicable terrorist from northern Samaria highlights the need for our counterterrorism efforts,” Bluth told reporters at the scene, vowing to “neutralize” militant threats.
Since the operation began on January 21, the Israeli military claims to have killed at least 50 militants. The Palestinian health ministry reported on Monday that 70 people had been killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank since the start of the year.
The ongoing offensive, which includes the demolition of buildings in Jenin’s refugee camp, has drawn condemnation from the Palestinian Authority, which labeled Israel’s actions “ethnic cleansing.”
Juliette Touma, a spokeswoman for UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, warned that the situation in Jenin was becoming “catastrophic.”
“Large parts of the camp were completely destroyed in a series of detonations by Israeli forces,” Touma said, estimating that around 100 homes had been destroyed or severely damaged.
Violence in the West Bank has escalated sharply since Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel triggered a war in Gaza.
According to the Palestinian health ministry, at least 884 Palestinians, many of them militants, have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces or settlers since the war began.
Israeli authorities report that at least 32 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks or Israeli military operations in the territory during the same period.
