News - Middle East: Israeli special forces have shot dead a high-profile commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad resistance movement during a raid on the West Bank, amid the ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip.

Palestinian media outlets reported that the Israeli forces stormed the town of Tammun late on Tuesday, on board a civilian vehicle with Palestinian license plates, and were escorted by military reinforcements.

They fatally shot the 47-year-old Raiq Abdul Rahman Sadiq Basharat.

Local sources said Israeli soldiers then broke into a number of local residents’ homes and violently ransacked them, as a military helicopter and several reconnaissance drones flew overhead.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said that Israeli forces prevented their ambulance crew members from approaching the injured man, and fired live rounds at them. A paramedic suffered gunshot injuries as a result.

Israeli special forces then took away the body of Basharat, a former prisoner, to an unknown location.

In a related development, two young Palestinian men were shot and killed, when Israeli occupation forces opened fire at local residents in Nablus.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health identified the victims as brothers Nidal and Khaled Mahdi Ahmed Amira, 40 and 35 respectively.

The official Palestinian WAFA news agency said Israeli occupation forces prevented ambulance crews from reaching them. 

The Palestinian youths’ bodies were later seized by Israeli forces.

Israel has ramped up its aggression against Palestinians across the West Bank since October 7, 2023, when it launched its atrocious military campaign against the Gaza Strip.

Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed and thousands of others injured by Israeli settlers or troops across the occupied territory since the onset of the war.

More than 700,000 Israelis live in over 230 settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the West Bank and East al-Quds.

The international community views the settlements as illegal under international law and the Geneva Conventions due to their construction on the occupied territories.

Source: Press TV