The Israeli military said the five were killed during raids to arrest members of a Hamas network planning terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians.
Israeli forces killed five Palestinians in armed confrontations in the occupied West Bank early on Sunday, according to Israeli officials. They said the gun battles occurred during a series of raids intended to thwart a terrorist attack on Israeli civilians. Two Israeli soldiers were also severely wounded in one of the shootouts. The military said it was investigating whether they were hurt by Israeli fire. The military wing of Hamas, the Islamic group that holds sway in the coastal territory of Gaza, claimed three of the dead as its members. Palestinian Islamic Jihad, an extremist group backed by Iran, claimed a fourth as its “martyr.” The raids took place simultaneously in the Jenin area in the northern West Bank and in a central area between Jerusalem and Ramallah. Lt. Col. Amnon Shefler, an Israeli military spokesman, said the overnight raids in five locations were carried out by an undercover army unit and special police counterterrorism forces. The armed men who were killed, and an additional four who were apprehended, were all part of a network that was planning terrorist attacks, he said.
