IDF soldier killed in West Bank shooting attack
The military had barred publication that a soldier was killed in the attack until his family was notified.
(TIMES OF ISRAEL) – AN Israeli soldier was shot dead by a Palestinian gunman near the West Bank settlement of Kedumim on Thursday afternoon, the military and medics said.
The IDF later named the fatality as Staff Sgt Shilo Yosef Amir, 22, of the Givati Brigade, from the northern town of Meirav.
The Magen David Adom ambulance service said he was declared dead at the scene following resuscitation efforts.
According to the Israel Defence Forces’ initial probe of the attack, security forces were alerted of the presence of a suspicious car driving around the settlement. When a civilian security officer and IDF troops arrived at the scene and stopped a car for inspection, its occupant fired at them with a handgun and fled. The forces then chased the assailant and killed him.
The military had barred publication that a soldier was killed in the attack until his family was notified.
Amid the shooting, a suspected infiltration siren sounded in the community, west of Nablus. The IDF’s Home Front Command briefly ordered residents of Kedumim to remain in their homes and lock their doors and windows.
The deadly attack was later claimed by the military wing of the Gaza-ruling Hamas terror group, which identified the assailant as Ahmed Yassin Ghaidan of Qibya.
The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades said the shooting was a response to the Israeli operation in Jenin earlier this week, during which at least 12 Palestinian gunmen were killed, and over recent settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
The terror group also warned Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who lives in Kedumim, that “the al-Qassam Brigades almost knocked on your door.”
The Shin Bet said Ghaidan had no known prior security offenses.
During the past year, Palestinian gunmen have repeatedly targeted military posts, troops operating along the West Bank security barrier, Israeli settlements and civilians on the roads.
Last Wednesday, Palestinian gunmen opened fire from a passing vehicle at a police cruiser and a nearby store in a tiny Samaritan community close to Nablus, causing no injuries.
That attack came hours after the IDF pulled back from Jenin following a two-day incursion targeting terror groups in the Palestinian refugee camp adjacent to the West Bank city.
Meanwhile, the IDF soldier killed during last week’s counter-terror operation in Jenin was laid to rest last Wednesday at Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl military cemetery with thousands in attendance.
Sgt First Class David Yehuda Yitzhak from the Egoz commando unit was shot and critically wounded on Tuesday evening, as Israeli forces began to withdraw from Jenin. The 23-year-old resident of the Beit El settlement was treated at the scene before being taken to a hospital in Israel where he was declared dead.
The IDF said it was investigating if the non-commissioned officer was hit by friendly fire or by Palestinian gunmen.
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