Three IDF soldiers hurt by gunfire after ramming attempt in W. Bank; 2 Palestinians killed

Military investigating possibility that wounded soldiers were accidentally hit by IDF fire; Palestinian shot and killed in Kalandiya.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN
Updated: DECEMBER 17, 2015 10:12
Kalandia raid
Two Palestinians who tried to ram their vehicles into security forces were killed, and Palestinian gunmen fired at IDF soldiers during a raid on the Kalandiya refugee camp late Tuesday night.
Three soldiers were also lightly injured in the raid by friendly fire, amid shots aimed at one of the drivers.
The Binyamin Regional Brigade, together with Border Police, Judea and Samaria District Police, Givati Brigade infantry units, and Duvdevan undercover soldiers entered Kalandiya, between Jerusalem and Ramallah, late Tuesday night to arrest security suspects and search for weapons.
The security forces encountered a violent disturbance involving firebombs and rocks, the army said. Masked Palestinian gunmen then appeared, opening fire on the soldiers. The armed attackers quickly fled, and no security personnel were injured in the incident.
Shortly afterward, two Palestinian drivers separately attempted to run over soldiers.
Both assailants were shot dead on the scene.
In one of the ramming attempts, three soldiers sustained light wounds from friendly fire as shots were fired at the attacking vehicle. The injured soldiers were taken to hospital.
A security source told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday that although Kalandiya is a known trouble spot, the IDF will continue to “enter everywhere that we see fit. This is part our freedom of operations.”
Last month, a Givati infantry brigade unit encountered hostile gunfire, pipe bombs and firebombing attacks upon entering Kalandiya.
In overnight raids, the Binyamin Brigade and other security forces arrested two wanted terrorist suspects.
Duvdevan soldiers, and soldiers from the Givati Brigade’s Shaked Battalion seized firearms, thousands of bullets and material that incited to violence during searches.
Elsewhere in the West Bank, the IDF, Border Police, and Judea and Samaria District Police arrested 18 security suspects in a series of raids. Seven of the suspects allegedly took part in unorganized violence against Israelis.
Security forces arrested Hamas members in Nablus’s Askar refugee camp, Ramallah and in a location south of Nablus.
Soldiers from the Judea Regional Brigade, together with Combat Engineering Corps units and the Civil Administration, mapped out the home of Isa Alharov in Deir Samat, west of Hebron. Alharov carried out a car ramming attack against soldiers in Halhoul on December 11, and was shot dead in the process. The home is slated for demolition shortly.
In Hebron, soldiers mapped out the home of Muhsan Hasuna, who carried out a car ramming attack in Jerusalem on Monday in which nine civilians were injured, including a one-year-old infant. The terrorist was shot dead during the attack. That home, too, is scheduled for demolition.
Additionally, the Home Front Command’s Ram Battalion and members of the elite Maglan Unit arrested four security suspects in the Dehaishe refugee camp, including a Hamas member who took part in rioting in the area.
On Wednesday afternoon, terrorists in Gaza activated an explosive device on the border between the southern Strip and Israel, targeting an IDF patrol. No soldiers were injured. The unit returned fire into Gaza, the army reported.