A Palestinian Authority security official and another gunman were killed by Israeli soldiers on Tuesday night after opening fire just metres from the border fence.
An Israel Defence Force officer was also killed in the firefight near the Gilboa/Jalama crossing between Israel and the West Bank, close to the city of Jenin. He has been named as Major Bar Falah, Deputy Commanding Officer of the Nahal Reconnaissance Battalion.
This latest firefight at the northernmost crossing comes amid escalating tensions between Israel and Palestinian militant groups in the West Bank. This incident occurred near the scene of another shooting attack less than 24 hours earlier.
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Major Bar Falah, Deputy Commanding Officer of the Nahal Reconnaissance Battalion was killed in the firefight (Photo: IDF)
At around 11.39pm last night, soldiers on observation posts spotted two figures in the so-called seam zone north of Jenin around 200 metres from the fence, and dispatched two troop units to investigate.
An IDF spokesperson said the soldiers began “encirclement” movements to initiate arrest procedures, but at 2.15am, the suspects fired towards the soldiers using a Carlo makeshift submachine gun and another semi-automatic weapon.
The soldiers returned fire and killed the two gunmen. The spokesperson said that Major Bar Falah managed to shoot one of the suspects before he was shot himself.
Military chief Aviv Kohavi paid tribute to Major Falah on Wednesday morning, saying: “Sadly it is not a good morning. We lost an officer last night. I convey my condolences to his family and his girlfriend.”
Prime Minister Yair Lapid tweeted: "There are no words to console the family, spouse and friends for the loss of the most precious of all. Bar, a warrior with every inch of his limbs, fought terrorism and led his warriors until his last hour.
"The operational activity in which he was killed thwarted a major attack and saved human lives."
Asked about the identities of the gunmen, the IDF spokesperson said: “I can confirm that one of the suspects was part of the PA, unfortunately. We know he was part of the security forces.”
The two gunmen have been named by Palestinian media as Ahmed Abed and Abdul Rahman Abed, from the village of Kafr Dan near Jenin. Ahmed was an officer in the PA security services.
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PA security official Ahmed Abed (right) and Abdul Rahman Abed, who opened fire at IDF troops, killing one, and were killed in the subsequent firefight on September 14, 2022 (Photos via Twitter)
The IDF spokesperson said that the PA “doesn’t engage to prevent these kind of events”, which forces Israeli troops to cross the border to prevent attacks.
A senior Israeli official told journalists accompanying Prime Minister Yair Lapid to Germany on Monday that Israel was “toughening up IDF operations in places like Jenin and Nablus,”, The Times of Israel reports.
In recent months, the IDF has deployed many more troops to the Israeli side of the West Bank border as the security situation has deteriorated.
The IDF spokesperson said that the deployment was crucial to Israeli security: “Before March, we had almost 6 months without going into Jenin. Following those few months, we’ve had terrorist attacks against Israelis in Tel Aviv. People sitting in a bar on a Thursday night and being shot at.”
They added: “As long as we have intelligence about terrorists organising, we will get them.”
According to the Shin Bet intelligence agency, more than 2,000 arrests have been made this year. There are also fears of escalation as the Jewish High Holidays approach this month: “We keep our soldiers alert 24/7. There is no special plan at the moment to do something different,” the IDF says.
