- Title: WEST BANK: Israeli soldier killed during West Bank arrest raid
- Date: 2nd November 2005
- Summary: (BN06) YIRKA VILLAGE, NEAR JENIN, WEST BANK (NOVEMBER 1, 2005) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ISRAELI MILITARY JEEPS DRIVING THROUGH STREETS PALESTINIAN YOUTH GATHERING ISRAELI TROOPS RAIDING HOME, ARRESTING ISLAMIC JIHAD OPERATIVE; VARIOUS OF ISRAELI MILITARY JEEPS DRIVING THROUGH STREETS; PALESTINIAN YOUTH HURLING STONES AT MILITARY VEHICLES VARIOUS OF AMBULANCES DRIVING TO AREA; PALESTINIAN YOUTH RECEIVING MEDICAL TREATMENT VARIOUS OF FIRE BURNING IN STREET; AMBULANCE DRIVING AWAY; VIEW OF AREA INTERIOR OF HOME RAIDED EARLIER; FAMILY MEMBERS ORGANISING PERSONAL BELONGINGS AFTER RAID; VARIOUS OF CLOSET EMPTIED; WOMEN GATHERING IN LIVING ROOM AFTER MAN ARRESTED BY ISRAELI FORCES
- Embargoed: 17th November 2005 12:00
- Keywords:
- Reuters ID: LVA1C6GJ9YVU8GJWL89092CJR817
- Story Text: Palestinian gunmen on Wednesday (November 2) killed an Israeli soldier in a gunbattle during an arrest raid in the occupied West Bank, the Israeli army said.
It was Israel's first military fatality in action since the Jewish state pulled out of the Gaza strip following 38 years of occupation in September. Israel regularly carries out arrests in the West Bank and has killed several militants during the raids.
An Israeli army spokesman said the soldier was killed after an Islamic Jihad operative surrendered without resistance in the northern West Bank village of Yirka. He was shot during a gunbattle afterwards and died on his way to hospital.
Over the past week, Israel has carried out numerous strikes against militants in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, killing 13 Palestinians, mostly gunmen. The northern West Bank has been a focus for military arrest raids since Israel's Gaza pullout.
The Israeli attacks followed an Islamic Jihad suicide bombing in an Israeli coastal town and cross-border rocket fire by the group, which said it was avenging Israel's killing of a West Bank commander on Oct. 24. The incident came a day after Israel killed two Palestinian militant commanders in a missile strike in the Gaza Strip, triggering vows to "open the gates of hell" for revenge attacks against the Jewish state.
A week of bloodshed, including the killing of five Israelis in a suicide bombing last Wednesday, has deflated hopes that the Gaza pullout in September would revive peacemaking. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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