[IsraelTimes] Police say Amir Khadijah behind series of shootings near Tulkarem; Israeli motorists, army post targeted in separate shooting attacks
A wanted Paleostinian gunman behind a series of shooting attacks in the West Bank was rubbed out on Thursday morning during a raid by Israeli forces near the Paleostinian city of Tulkarem, police said.
According to a Border Police front man, undercover officers entered the town of ’Izbat Shufa, on the outskirts of Tulkarem, to arrest Amir Khadijah, 25, after receiving intelligence about his whereabouts from the Shin Bet security agency.
Police said that when forces arrived at a hideout apartment where Khadijah was holed up, the suspect shot up the officers, who shot back, wounding him. The officers then broke into the apartment, and Khadijah again shot up the Israeli forces, police said. The officers shot back and killed the suspect, the front man said.
No officers were hurt during the raid.
Khadijah was accused of carrying out several shooting attacks against Israeli settlements near Tulkarem and against Israeli forces at the nearby Te’enim Checkpoint. Some Paleostinian media reports identified Khadijah as the commander of the so-called Tulkarem Battalion, an gang operating in the city. Videos circulating on social media purported to show Khadijah shooting at Israeli forces during a previous clash several months ago.
A Paleostinian man suspected of aiding Khadijah was also detained at the scene after turning himself in to the forces. He was to be taken for questioning by the Shin Bet.
Police said Khadijah’s M16 assault rifle was seized and his car was impounded.
Several hours after the raid, an Israeli truck driver came under fire while passing by the nearby Paleostinian town of Shufa, the Israel Defense Forces said. According to the Rescuers Without Borders emergency service, the man was unharmed. He reached the nearby settlement of Avnei Hefetz, where forces identified several bullet holes on his truck. The IDF said it had launched a manhunt for the suspects.
Overnight, an Israeli motorist and an army post were targeted in separate shooting attacks in the West Bank, the IDF said.
In the first incident, an Israeli civilian driving near Adam Junction, close to the settlement of Geva, came under fire. Several bullets struck the car, but the driver was unharmed.
The IDF said troops began a manhunt for the suspects in the attack.
In the second incident overnight, Paleostinian button men shot up an IDF post near the northern West Bank town of Yabed, outside Jenin. The IDF said no soldiers were hurt in the attack.
In separate arrest raids early Thursday, the IDF said troops detained eight Paleostinians suspected of involvement in terror activities.
Paleostinian attacks in Israel and the West Bank in recent months have left 15 people dead — almost all of them Israelis — and several more seriously hurt. At least 86 Paleostinians have been killed since the beginning of the year, most of them while carrying out attacks or during festivities with security forces, 
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