‘Don’t let one bad apple spoil the bunch’ – IDF leaves pamphlet after counterterrorism raid

Six terror suspects were arrested and two killed during raids throughout PA-controlled cities in Judea and Samaria.

By World Israel News Staff

Two Palestinian men were killed and six were arrested in raids carried out by the IDF overnight Wednesday in Palestinian Authority-controlled areas in Judea and Samaria, with Israeli security forces leaving pamphlets warning locals not to interfere with future military operations.

“Don’t let one rotten apple spoil the bunch,” read Arabic-language materials left on the windshields of residents’ cars in the areas where the raids were carried out, Telegram blogger Abu Ali Express reported.

IDF troops entered Balata, on the outskirts of Nablus, early Thursday morning to arrest a wanted man and were met with gunfire from locals.

“During the operation, the forces responded by firing after a shot was fired at them,” the army said on Twitter.

After the firefight, a 25-year-old man identified by Arabic language media as Samer Khaled was found to have been killed by a gunshot to the neck.

Notably, Israel’s Kan News reported that Palestinian officials informed the IDF that Khaled had been accidentally killed by friendly fire which came from other Palestinians.

Some Hebrew news reports suggested that Khaled had been killed after IDF troops had already withdrawn from the area.

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, a terror group affiliated with Fatah, claimed the slain man was a member of their organization who had valiantly died in battle with the “Zionist enemy.”

The statement from the terror group also named Yazan Afaneh, 26, as an additional Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade member who was killed in clashes with the IDF early Thursday morning.

Afaneh, from the town of Qalandiya north of Jerusalem, had been part of a rioting mob which threw projectiles, including Molotov cocktails and rocks, at IDF troops in the area.

Six terror suspects were arrested during raids throughout Palestinian Authority-controlled cities in Judea and Samaria, and were transferred to the Shin Bet for questioning, according to a statement from the Israel military.

In recent weeks, the Israeli military has stepped up its arrests as part of Operation Breaking the Wave, which was rolled out after a spate of deadly shootings and stabbings which saw the highest number of Israelis killed in terror attacks since 2006.