JERUSALEM
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Sunday the orchestrators of an Israeli raid, in which a Hamas member, whom Israel said was wanted, and two other Palestinians were killed a day earlier.
“Our forces hit someone who planned and organized attacks on innocent [Israeli] civilians," Netanyahu told a cabinet meeting Sunday, according to Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot.
"I would like to commend the anti-terrorism unit, the IDF [Israeli army] units involved…for carrying out a very important operation in eliminating someone who endangered Israeli citizens."
Netanyahu called the raid a "very important" operation. "Our policy is to attack those who attack or plan to attack us," he reportedly said.
On Saturday, Israeli forces raided the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank, killing three Palestinians, including Hamza Abu al-Hija, a member of Qassam Brigades, Hamas's military wing.
Avichay Adraee, a spokesman for the Israeli military, said on Twitter Saturday that Abu al-Hija, whom he referred to as a "terrorist," was wanted for a series of attacks and planning future "acts of terror" against Israelis.
Adraee claimed that Abu al-Hija had barricaded himself and shot at the Israeli soldiers as they tried to arrest him in the camp, wounding two Israeli soldiers.
Hamas, for its part, condemned the killings, describing the raid as a "grisly Zionist crime" and holding the self-proclaimed Jewish state fully responsible for the deaths.
Thousands of Palestinians took part in a popular funeral for the three Palestinians on Saturday.
Israel considers resistance group Hamas a "terrorist organization." The Islamist group has been ruling the blockaded Gaza Strip since 2007.
By Alaa Rimawi
englishnews@aa.com.tr
