According to AFP, the Israeli army announced that an Israeli soldier was killed on Thursday near the settlement of Kedumim in the occupied West Bank in an attack claimed by a Palestinian armed group.

Israeli security forces after the attack in the West BankPhoto: Ilya Yefimovich / DPA / Profimedia Images

“Sergeant Major Shilo Yosef Amir, 22 years old, a resident of Meirav (North), was killed on Thursday by gunfire from an assailant during routine operations near Kedumim,” the army statement said.

According to a previous statement by the army, “security forces identified a suspicious vehicle near the city of Kedumim and checked it (…) During the inspection, the attacker opened fire.”

The attacker ran away and was “neutralized” by soldiers, the army said.

The armed wing of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, which is in power in the Gaza Strip, claimed responsibility for the attack.

“The Al-Qassam Brigades claimed responsibility for the heroic operation that took place in Qedumim,” Hamas said in a statement.

“This is an immediate response to the aggression of the occupation against our people in the Jenin camp,” Hamas added.

The incident came a day after a major Israeli military operation in the northern West Bank, a Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967, in Jenin and a nearby refugee camp that killed 12 Palestinians and one Israeli soldier.

The Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security service, released the identity of the attacker, Ahmad Gidan, a 19-year-old Palestinian from the village of Kebiya near Ramallah.

According to Palestinian sources in the village, the Israeli army arrested members of his family.

The northern West Bank has recently seen a wave of attacks against Israelis and anti-Palestinian violence by Jewish settlers who attacked several Palestinian villages.

Jenin and the refugee camp have been targets of Israeli operations several times.

The problem of colonies recognized by the UN as illegal

Almost three million Palestinians live in the West Bank. About 490,000 Jewish settlers also live in settlements that the UN considers illegal under international law.

At least 190 Palestinians have died since the beginning of the year in violence related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as well as 27 Israelis, a Ukrainian and an Italian, according to official AFP data.

This number includes combatants and civilians, including minors, on the Palestinian side and three members of the Arab minority on the Israeli side.

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