RAMALLAH: The Zionist entity’s armed forces said on Wednesday they had killed two Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including a man that was released during a short-lived ceasefire in Gaza as part of the November 2023 hostage deal between the Zionist entity and Hamas. On Wednesday morning, Zionist forces tried to arrest Muhammad Zakarneh in a cave near the West Bank town of Qabatiyah, the military said in a statement. “The forces encircled a cave in the area of Misilyah in which Zakarneh hid. The forces conducted exchanges of fire with him and two additional terrorists, in which shoulder-fired missiles were fired at the forces,” the military said.

Mohammed Hobari, a local resident who was working in the field near where the standoff took place, told AFP that the army “stormed the area and ordered us to stop working”. “They besieged the area before starting to fire their weapons. They brought a bulldozer and it started digging and demolishing.” Zionist forces eventually killed Zakarneh and Marouh Khuzaymia, the army statement said, adding that the two belonged to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group.

On Wednesday afternoon, army bulldozers worked to destroy the militants’ hiding place, leaving behind a pile of stones and rubble, an AFP journalist reported. Khuzaymia “was released during the November 2023 hostage deal,” the statement said. The Zionist forces said Khuzaymia was wanted after he was allegedly involved “in planning additional terrorist activities.”

Zakarneh’s father, Omar, told AFP: “He died just like many other young people. Hopefully God will accept him (in heaven).” The military accused Zakarneh of being one of three people who took part in a January 6 attack near the village of Al-Funduq, in which three citizens of the Zionist entity were killed and six injured. The night that followed the attack saw several instances of settlers attacking Palestinians in parts of the West Bank, including in the village of Hajja, whose mayor told AFP it had come under attack.

The army said it killed the two other attackers in late January, identified as Mohammed Nazzal, 25, and Qutaiba Shalabi, 30. Islamic Jihad said in a statement that Zakarneh, 23, and Khuzaymia, 19, were killed “this morning after engaging in a clash with a Zionist force that had surrounded them for several hours in the town of Misliyah”. The Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority said in a statement it had been informed of both men’s deaths. The Zionist entity army said it had arrested other Palestinians who it reported were assisting Zakarneh and Khuzaymia on Wednesday. Meanwhile, an AFP journalist saw Zionist armored vehicles entering the West Bank city of Jericho near the Jordanian border. — AFP