Israel: Wanted Hamas commander killed in West Bank
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The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) late Thursday night killed a wanted Hamas military leader near the West Bank town of Tulkarm, army sources told local news service Ynet on Friday.
Israeli forces were on a raid to the Palestinian village of Nur al-Shams when they found a man running towards them. Soldiers opened fired and killed him who ignored warnings and continued running.
The man was later confirmed as Iyad As'ad Shalabaya, a former military commander of Hamas.
However, Palestinian news Agency Ma'an reported that family members said Shalabaya was assassinated by Israeli soldiers who enter his house earlier Friday morning and shot him three times in the head.
This is the latest incident in a series of violence between Israeli army and the Palestinians militant group.
As the direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian National Authority is underway, Hamas, while condemning the talks and trying to foil them, carried out a dozen rocket attacks in recent days.
Hamas fired several rockets and mortars from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel on Wednesday, when U.S.-mediated talks between Israel and PNA were held in Jerusalem. Israeli airforce retaliated by targeting the tunnels and other Hamas facilities in Gaza, killing one Palestinian and wounding at least four others.
Ahead of the Jewish calendar's holiest holiday Yom Kippur, Israel security forces heightened their state of alert against potential attacks and clashes.
On Friday midnight, the IDF will impose a one-day lock on the West Bank, preventing civilians from entering or exiting the area.
The Israeli Police has beefed up its presence and deploy policemen and Border Guard personnel inside cities across the country, near synagogues and other sensitive areas considered at high risk for terror attacks.
While a heightened state of alert is routine on Yom Kippur, security forces are focusing their efforts on the West Bank, where several Israelis were killed and wounded in shooting attacks earlier this month.
In the first incident, four Israelis were killed by Hamas gunmen near the West Bank city of Hebron. The following day, two people were wounded in a similar incident.
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