Palestinian teenager shot dead in Israeli operation in Jenin to arrest senior Islamic Jihad official

A Palestinian teenager was shot dead by Israeli security forces during a raid late Monday on a refugee camp in the West Bank city of Jenin that resulted in the arrest of two people, including a senior Islamic Jihad official.

“A martyr, shot by Israeli occupation forces, has arrived at the Jenin Public Hospital,” the Palestinian Ministry of Health said in a brief message on its Facebook social network account. It later confirmed that the deceased is 17-year-old Dirar al-Kafraniyi.

The clashes erupted as part of an operation by security forces to arrest Basam Saadi, a senior Islamic Jihad official who has been arrested along with his son-in-law Ashraf al Jada, Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.

The Israeli Army has confirmed a “counter-terrorism activity in Jenin to arrest two terror suspects.” “During the activity, Palestinians fired and threw rocks at the forces. We will continue to operate against the threat of terrorism,” it added on its Twitter account, without commenting on the death of al-Kafraniyi.

He also stressed that he has “identified terrorist activities” on the part of Islamic Jihad following the operation and announced that “due to a direct threat of possible attack against Israeli civilians, it was decided to block civilian areas and roads near the security fence with the Gaza Strip” during the morning of Tuesday.

Islamic Jihad, based in Gaza and considered a terrorist group by Israel, has declared itself on a state of “alert” following Saadi’s arrest. According to information reported by ‘The Times of Israel’, the Israeli Armed Forces have also closed the Erez border crossing, preventing the Gaza population from leaving the enclave.

Saadi, 61, has been imprisoned and released a total of seven times by Israeli security forces. The Shin Bet had noted over the past few months that the man “works hard to restore Islamic Jihad activities” and that he “is behind the establishment of a significant military force” of the group in the West Bank, especially in Jenin.