Three Israeli police officers were killed Sunday morning in an armed operation at the Tarqumiya checkpoint, west of Hebron (Al-Khalil) in the southern occupied West Bank.
The Israeli ambulance service reported that two police officers and border guards were killed immediately, while a third officer was seriously injured and later succumbed to his wounds.
The Israeli army announced that three of those killed were security forces and police officers who were on duty at the time of the attack. The vehicle used in the attack was found abandoned after the attackers managed to flee.
Israeli Army Radio said that the military had raided Idhna, close to the attack site.
Palestinian sources confirmed that Israeli reconnaissance drones were flying over the town of Tarqumiya and nearby areas northwest of Hebron as part of the search operation.
Al-Aqsa TV reported that large numbers of occupation forces stormed the town of Idhna following the operation.
The Palestinian Red Crescent confirmed that its teams in Hebron were treating a person injured by live ammunition near the Tarqumiya checkpoint.
MAARIV: The Israeli newspaper Maariv reported the death of the third wounded police officer who was injured in the armed attack that took place earlier this morning near the Tarqumiya checkpoint west of Hebron in the occupied West Bank.
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— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) September 1, 2024
According to the Israeli radio station KAN, the attackers fired 11 bullets at the targeted vehicle near the Tarqumiya checkpoint. Additionally, Israeli Army Radio mentioned that the attackers fired from a distance of one kilometer from the checkpoint.
Video footage showed Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir arriving at the scene of the shooting.
This follows another double operation targeting two settlements north of Hebron two days earlier, which left three Israelis injured, including the commander of the Etzion Brigade.
The operation also comes amid an ongoing Israeli offensive in the northern West Bank, now in its fifth day, which has resulted in the deaths of at least 22 Palestinians and the killing or wounding of Israeli soldiers in Jenin.
Natural Response
In a statement, the Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas said that “the Al-Khalil operation is a natural response to the crimes of the occupation against our people, and the resistance will only grow stronger and more fierce.”
This morning in Hebron, occupied West Bank:
3 Israeli police officers killed in a shooting operation at a checkpoint near Tarqumiya. pic.twitter.com/b8sJmpfyY9
— The Cradle (@TheCradleMedia) September 1, 2024
“Our steadfast people, who are engaged in Al-Aqsa Flood battle, will continue the path of jihad (struggle) and resistance against the Zionist enemy, rejecting occupation, oppression, and aggression, until the liberation of Palestine,” the statement continued.
Hamas also called on the Palestinian people to rise and confront the Israeli “occupiers, who continue to commit massacres against our steadfast people in the Gaza Strip.”
“We call upon all cities, villages, and camps to rise up and ignite the fire of resistance against the occupation and block settler routes by all means,” the statement said.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
You lot are scum to call a drive-by shooting a “natural response”.
No wonder no country on earth (except Pakistan) wants anything to do with you.
The IDF criminals are murdering children, women and elderly people and they never cease to brag about it. The Palestinian resistance responds with targeting Zionist soldiers and police officers. That is indeed a natural, and even responsible response. As for the second part of your comment, do you even live in the same world as we do? Palestinians aren’t alone. Bolivia and Columbia has severed diplomatic ties with the Zionist entity. Spain is taking significant steps to pressure the apartheid. How about countries who joined South Africa’s case against the Zionist genocide in Gaza? Or haven’t you seen Americans protesting and demanding an arm embargo? Zionist hasbara isn’t working anymore.