Riots broke out in the West Bank city of Jenin after IDF troops demolished the home of Ahmed Qonba’a, a Palestinian terrorist responsible for the death of Rabbi Raziel Shevach in September 2018. The home had been previously demolished but had been rebuilt by the family. “We are after a busy night in several arenas,” IDF Spokesperson Brig.-Gen. Hildai Zilberman said, adding that Palestinian snipers had opened fire on the troops who had been safeguarding the unit carrying out the demolition and that troops returned fire towards the snipers. According to him, a Palestinian sniper cell has been recently shooting at IDF troops in Jenin. The military had anticipated that troops may come under sniper fire during the demolition and had therefore brought a team of Israeli snipers to the operation. According to Palestinian news agency WAFA, 19 year-old Yazan Abu Tabikh was killed after IDF troops opened fire at rioters who had been clashing with troops. Seven others, including a Palestinian policeman, were also seriously wounded. The Israeli military said it is investigating the incident.
هتافات غاضبة عقب استشهاد الشاب يزن أبو طبيخ ” 19 عامًا ” الذي ارتقى برصاص قوات الاحتلال في #جنين فجر اليوم. pic.twitter.com/UzAPNHpvfJ— المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) February 6, 2020
Earlier on Wednesday, 17-year-old Mohammed al-Haddad was shot dead by Israeli troops as he threw a Molotov cocktail towards troops during clashes in Hebron. Riots also broke out in al-Bireh near Ramallah where Palestinians hurled stones and firebombs towards a convoy of IDF vehicles as it left the town following an arrest. On Tuesday an Israeli border police officer was lightly injured after he was hit by a firebomb, which exploded into flames on him during riots in Hebron. The day before, another soldier in Hebron was hit by a Molotov cocktail. There have been daily clashes between Israeli troops and Palestinians in the West Bank since the release of US President Donald Trump’s peace plan last week. The IDF has been on heightened alert in the West Bank since the release, deploying additional troops to the area. “We are experiencing a fairly violent week,” Zilberman said. “There is a lot of friction and unavoidable losses. Both sides are working towards containing and calming the situation.”
— חדשות 13 (@newsisrael13) February 6, 2020
Meanwhile in Gaza, the IDF struck Hamas targets including a tunnel and underground logistics infrastructure shortly after midnight in retaliation for an earlier mortar attack and the launching of aerial improvised explosive devices toward southern Israel throughout the day. There have been near-daily rocket and mortar attacks from Gaza over the past week. Dozens of explosive-laden balloons and condoms have also been launched from the blockaded coastal enclave towards southern Israel. “We understand that Hamas has been letting these things happen in the past few weeks, especially with the balloons, as well as looking the other way while others fire rockets and mortar shells,” Zilberman said, adding that “we won’t allow this situation with the balloons to continue.”
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