An Israeli soldier was shot dead by a Palestinian gunman near the West Bank settlement of Kedumim on Thursday afternoon, military and medics said.
The Magen David Adom rescue service said the victim was pronounced dead at the scene after resuscitation measures were taken.
According to the IDF’s initial investigation into the attack, security forces were alerted to the presence of a suspicious car driving through the settlement. When a civilian security officer and IDF troops arrived at the scene and stopped a car for inspection, the occupant shot them with a pistol and fled. The forces then pursued the attacker and killed him.
The IDF later named the casualty as Staff Sgt. Shilo Yosef Amir, 22, of the Givati Brigade and from the northern city of Meirav.
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The military had banned publication that a soldier was killed in the attack until his family was notified.
A suspected infiltration siren sounded in the municipality west of Nablus during the shooting. The IDF Home Front Command briefly ordered residents of Kedumim to remain indoors and lock their doors and windows.
Israeli troops examine the car of a Palestinian attacker at the site of a shooting attack near the West Bank settlement of Kedumim, July 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
The deadly attack was later claimed by the military wing of the Gaza-ruling Hamas terror group, who identified the attacker as Ahmed Yassin Ghaidan from Qibya.
The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades said the shooting was in response to the Israeli operation in Jenin earlier this week that killed at least 12 Palestinian gunmen and recent settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
The terror group also warned Kedumim-based Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich that “al-Qassam Brigades almost knocked on your door.”
The Shin Bet said Ghaidan had no previous security breaches.
This image released by the Hamas terror group on July 6, 2023 shows Ahmed Yassin Ghaidan, a Palestinian gunman, who carried out a deadly attack near the West Bank settlement of Kedumim. (decency)
Over the past year, Palestinian gunmen have repeatedly attacked military posts, troops operating along the security barrier in the West Bank, Israeli settlements and civilians on the streets.
On Wednesday, Palestinian gunmen opened fire from a passing vehicle at a police car and a nearby shop in a small Samaritan community near Nablus, leaving no one injured.
This attack came hours after the IDF pulled out of Jenin after a two-day raid on terrorist groups in the Palestinian refugee camp next to the West Bank city.
Tensions between Israelis and Palestinians have been high across the West Bank for the past year and a half, as the military conducted raids almost every night and a series of deadly Palestinian terrorist attacks.
Since the beginning of this year, 25 people have been killed in Palestinian attacks in Israel and the West Bank, including Thursday’s shooting.
According to a Times of Israel tally, 148 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank during that period – most of them in clashes with security forces or in attacks, but some were innocent civilians and others were killed under unclear circumstances.