(JTA) — The Israel Defense Forces killed at least four Palestinians during an operation to arrest terrorist operatives in the West Bank.
Two Israelis were seriously wounded by friendly fire in the operation overnight between Saturday and Sunday, though their condition is improving, according to the Israeli publication Ynet.
Four of the Palestinians killed were reported to be members of terrorist organizations. Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian terror group, identified one of the men killed as one of its operatives, while the IDF said three others were members of Hamas. Haaretz reported that a fifth Palestinian had also been killed.
The IDF said it carried out arrests in five locations in the West Bank during the operation, according to Haaretz. The five Palestinians were killed in gunfights in towns in the northern and central West Bank. Nocturnal Israeli military operations are a regular occurrence in the West Bank, both in areas controlled by Israel and those controlled by the Palestinian Authority.
“The security forces took action overnight in Judea and Samaria against Hamas terrorists who were about to carry out terrorist attacks in real-time,” Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said in a statement Sunday morning, using the biblical term for the West Bank.
The IDF warned that Hamas and Islamic Jihad may retaliate by firing rockets at Israel from Gaza.
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