Gunman who fired at troops shot dead in West Bank

Israeli army soldiers stand guard at the scene of a shooting attack on the Tayasir checkpoint east of Tubas in the north of the occupied West Bank on February 4, 2025. The Israeli army said on February 4 that its troops killed an assailant who fired at soldiers at the military post east of the city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)

A gunman attacked an Israeli military checkpoint in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, fatally wounding two soldiers before troops shot him dead, the army said.

The shooting took place in the morning at a military post in Tayasir in the northern part of the West Bank, the military said in a statement.

“A terrorist fired at the soldiers at a military post in Tayasir,” it said, adding the troops killed the gunman during a shootout.

One of the two slain soldiers was identified by the military as Sergeant Major Ofer Yung. The name of the other soldier was still not cleared for publication.

Two other soldiers were “severely injured” in the attack, while six others were slightly wounded.

Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad praised Tuesday’s “heroic” attack on the checkpoint, saying “the resistance will continue until the occupation is defeated”.

Israeli forces have been engaged in what the army says is “an operation to thwart terrorism” in and around the area of Jenin, long a hotbed of militancy.

On Sunday, the army said it killed at least 50 militants since it launched the operation on January 21, while the Palestinian health ministry in Ramallah said a day later that Israeli forces have killed 70 people in the territory since the start of the year.

The operation has also seen troops levelling buildings in a refugee camp adjacent to Jenin.

The offensive has drawn strong condemnation from the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, which called Israel’s actions “ethnic cleansing”.

A spokeswoman for UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, said that events in the Jenin refugee camp were heading in a “catastrophic direction”.

“Large parts of the camp were completely destroyed in a series of detonations by the Israeli forces,” Juliette Touma said.

“It is estimated that 100 houses were destroyed or heavily damaged.”

Violence has surged across the West Bank since war began in Gaza with the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.

Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 884 Palestinians in the West Bank, many of them militants, since the start of the war, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

At least 32 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military raids in the territory over the same period, according to official Israeli figures.