Three Palestinian men, two of them accused of killing a mother and her two daughters last month in the Jordan Valley, were killed Thursday morning in the West Bank city of Nablus, in fire exchange with Israeli troops.
A joint statement issued by the Shin Bet, Israel Police and the Israel Defense Forces said that Israeli troops entered Nablus to apprehend Hamas operatives Hassan Qatnani and Ma’ad Masri, who are accused of carrying out the April 7 attack that killed Lucy Dee and her daughters Maia and Rina. The statement said that both men were killed in fire exchange with the troops, as well as a third Palestinian man — Ibrahim Jabar — who is thought to have helped the two escape the scene of the Jordan Valley attack.
The Hamas-affiliated Safa news agency reported that Masri, Qatnani and Jabar were members of the organization's military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. According to the outlet, Masri and Qatnani carried out the Jordan valley attack and Jabar helped them hide following the incident. Masri and Qatnani are from the Askar refugee camp in Nablus and Qatnani spent two and a half years in an Israeli prison. The three were killed in Jabar's home.
According to Ynet, 200 Israeli troops entered Nablus on Thursday morning. They surrounded a house where the suspects were believed to be hiding and came under heavy fire from within the building. Palestinian militants then gathered in the area and threw stones at the troops. The report read that the troops dropped stun grenades using a drone in an attempt to flush the suspects out of hiding. After the fighting, several assault rifles were seized at the scene.
