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Wanted Islamic Jihad member captured after IDF firefight

Zakarneh’s arrest came after a recent spike in shooting attacks against Israeli military installations in Judea and Samaria.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

A wanted member of the Islamic Jihad terror group who previously served time in Israeli prison for security offenses was captured by IDF troops near Jenin after an intense firefight that left seven Palestinians wounded.

No Israeli military troops were injured in the exchange of fire.

IDF soldiers surrounded the home of Alaa Zakarneh, the leader of Islamic Jihad’s Al Quds Brigade, in Kabatiya early Monday morning.

Israeli security forces called on Zakarneh to exit the home and allow himself to be arrested by the troops.

But he “refused to surrender and clashed with the forces until his ammunition ran out before his arrest,” according to a statement from Islamic Jihad.

Armed Palestinians fired upon the Israeli troops surrounding Zakarneh’s home, and the IDF returned fire. Local Arabic-language media reported that seven Palestinians were wounded during the firefight.

Zakarneh’s arrest came after a recent spike in shooting attacks against Israeli military installations in Judea and Samaria.

Overnight Sunday, terrorists fired at IDF posts near Nablus (Shechem) and Silwad. No Israeli casualties were wounded in either of the incidents.

On Saturday, a seven-year-old Israeli girl was shot in the stomach while playing in her front yard in Kochav Yaakov, a Jewish town north of Jerusalem.

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In early August, Ibrahim Nabulsi, who was nicknamed the “Lion of Nablus” and was notorious for repeatedly escaping arrest, evading an IDF raid as recently as July, was killed inside his home during a massive firefight with Israeli troops.

According to Palestinian news outlets, Nabulsi and another terrorist were killed during the battle. The Palestinian Authority health ministry said that some 40 Palestinians were wounded, four of them seriously, during the exchange of fire.

“I love my mother. I am now a martyr and I am going to die a martyr’s death,” Nabulsi said in a voice note he recorded just before he was killed.