The Israeli military announced on Tuesday that it had arrested Omar al-Fayed, a senior member of Hamas’s military wing, in a joint operation with the police and the Shin Bet security agency in the occupied West Bank.
According to a statement posted on Twitter, the Israeli forces encountered an armed assailant during the arrest in the city of Jenin, and opened fire in response.
Two Israeli soldiers were lightly wounded by shrapnel in the exchange of fire, the statement said.
According to Al Jazeera, The military said al-Fayed was one of the heads of Hamas’s military infrastructure in the West Bank, and was involved in planning and executing attacks against Israeli targets.
Hamas, the Palestinian faction that governs the Gaza Strip, did not immediately comment on the arrest. The group has been engaged in a long-running conflict with Israel, which considers it a terrorist organisation.
The arrest came amid heightened tensions in the West Bank, where Israeli forces have been conducting frequent raids and arrests of Palestinians, sparking clashes and protests. Last week, a Palestinian teenager was shot dead by Israeli soldiers during a demonstration near Ramallah.
