Palestinian Resistance Groups Praise al-Khalil Operation

By Staff, Agencies

The Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), a Gaza-based Palestinian resistance coalition, has praised a shooting operation in the southern West Bank city of al-Khalil that left two “Israeli” soldiers dead and three others wounded, describing it as a response to ongoing atrocities against Palestinians.

In a statement issued Friday, the group said the operation was a direct response to what it described as crimes committed by “Israeli” authorities, occupation forces and extremist Jewish settlers across the occupied Palestinian territories.

The PRC stressed that continued crimes by the “Israeli” entity would neither guarantee the security of the occupying entity nor break the will of the Palestinian people. It added that the operation had dealt a significant blow to the entity’s security, military and intelligence apparatus.

Hamas also described the shooting as “heroic” but did not claim responsibility for the operation.

“Israeli” media outlets identified the slain soldiers as Staff Sergeant Ron Yonatan Roytman, 23, from Ashkelon, and Sergeant Yuval Shai Svilem, 20, from Hod Hasharon. Roytman was reportedly serving as a squad commander.

The “Israeli” military claimed that the two Palestinians killed in the incident had initially planned a larger operation against settlers on Route 35.

However, after allegedly realizing they could not reach the highway, they decided to target a temporary military checkpoint instead.

The two men were identified as Mohammad Jaaba and Firas Jaaba, both 27-year-old residents of al-Khalil and members of the same family. Their exact relationship had not been established as of late Friday morning.

According to the “Israeli” military’s account, the men arrived by car at around 7:30 a.m. local time on Friday at a temporary checkpoint near the exit to al-Khalil.

They reportedly left the vehicle on a side street, armed with an assault rifle and a pistol, and opened fire while using nearby buildings as cover.

Footage from the scene showed an extended exchange of fire between the Palestinian men and occupation forces. The “Israeli” military said the gunfight lasted more than 20 minutes.