Hamas on Sunday praised the reported shooting of an IDF Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) during an operation to arrest a suspect in Dhahiriya, near Hebron, over the weekend.
The incident was reported by Israeli public broadcaster KAN News on Sunday morning. According to KAN, the NCO was lightly wounded, but did not provide further details.
The Jerusalem Post reached out to the IDF for comment.
In a Sunday statement, the terror organization took responsibility for the alleged incident, claiming that the NCO was wounded by one of its operatives.
It noted that it “salute[s] the pure hands that confront the occupier and resist.”
Additionally, Hamas said that the incident comes in response to Israel’s “crimes” against Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, and Jerusalem, as well as Israel’s plans to “seize West Bank lands and displace” Palestinians.
The terror group ended with a general call to Palestinians in the West Bank and east Jerusalem to “escalate resistance in all its forms to respond to the occupation’s crimes with painful operations that will disrupt its calculations and thwart its plans.”
IDF captures over 50 terror suspects in West Bank, seizes weaponry
Last week, the IDF conducted several counterterrorism operations across the West Bank, captured over 50 suspects, who were wanted for inciting terrorism, advancing terror activities, and possessing and trading weaponry.
Some 250,000 NIS intended for terrorism were also confiscated by the IDF, as well as a lathe used to manufacture weapons, a drone, military equipment, ammunition, and more than 10 weapons, including handguns and improvised Carlo weapons.
