Ramallah, March 5 (IANS) The Israeli army has killed a senior Qassam Brigades commander and another Palestinian during a large-scale military operation in the eastern neighbourhood of the northern West Bank city of Jenin.

According to Palestinian security sources and eyewitnesses, the Israeli forces, backed by large reinforcements, surrounded several residential buildings in the eastern neighbourhood of Jenin, which led to violent clashes that resulted in the killing of Aysar al-Saadi and another young man, Xinhua news agency reported.

The incident came as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) expanded its ongoing counterterrorism raid, dubbed “Operation Iron Wall,” in the northern West Bank to additional neighbourhoods of Jenin.

In a first, troops were using “Eitan” armoured personnel carriers in Jenin amid the operation, which are more heavy duty than the APCs normally deployed in the West Bank.

On Tuesday morning, as part of the expanded operation, Border Police officers along with IDF troops attempted to arrest the commander of Hamas’s terror network in Jenin, Aysar al-Saadi, following information on his whereabouts provided by the Shin Bet.

Following an exchange of fire, Saadi and another gunman were killed, and three wanted Palestinians were detained, according to the IDF, police, and Shin Bet.

Hamas mourned the death of Saadi, accusing Israel of resorting to “assassinations after failing to confront the resistance on the ground”.

In a statement, the Israeli army confirmed the killing of Saadi, alleging that he was responsible for planning attacks against Israeli targets.

The Israeli troops found an assault rifle, handgun, and several other weapons during scans of the building where Saadi was holed up.

Another gunman was killed in a separate exchange of fire in the same area, the IDF added.

On Tuesday, a Palestinian man who approached Israeli forces at a checkpoint near the West Bank settlement outpost of Homesh while brandishing a knife was shot dead by troops, according to a military source.

The statement also claimed that the second Palestinian killed “posed a threat” to Israeli forces in the area.

The army emphasised that military operations would continue in Jenin to pursue what it described as “terrorist elements”.

Jenin governor Kamal Abu al-Rub said that two Palestinians were killed, “and many young men were arrested,” while the Palestinian Health Ministry identified one of the dead as Aysar al-Saadi, saying the 21-year-old’s body was taken away by troops after he was shot.

The head of the Jenin government hospital, Wisam Baker, told media that a man identified as Jihad Alawneh was declared dead on arrival at the facility early on Tuesday.

Baker said that Alawneh, 25, had bled out after being shot in the thigh.

Governor Abu al-Rub said the raid had caused “devastation and massive destruction” in Jenin’s eastern neighbourhood, “which has not experienced an Israeli assault like this before.”

He said that the main electricity line was cut off, dozens of families were forced to leave, and army bulldozers had left behind a trail of damage.

More than 40,100 Palestinians have left their homes since the launch of Operation Iron Wall, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) figures from mid-February.

The IDF has said troops have killed more than 75 Palestinian terror operatives and detained some 450 amid the major ongoing counter-terrorism operation. The military has also acknowledged mistakenly killing several civilians during the operation, including a toddler and a pregnant woman. Troops have also seized nearly 200 weapons.

–IANS

int/khz