A poster of Ahmad Nasser Jarrar irculating on social media in the wake of his death.
JENIN (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces assassinated Palestinian fighter Ahmad Nasser Jarrar during a wide scale military operation in the al-Yamoun town in the northern occupied West Bank district of Jenin on Tuesday at dawn.
The governor of the Jenin district, Ibrahim Ramadan, said in a statement on Tuesday that he was informed by the Palestinian liaison of the killing of Ahmad Jarrar, adding that his body was being held by Israel.
Ramadan added that the Israeli military operation in Jenin began around 12 a.m. across three villages of the district and ended up in the al-Yamoun town before dawn.
Israeli news website Ynet
reported that around 3 a.m., the Shin Bet, Israel’s internal intelligence agency, received intelligence that Jarrar was hiding in building complex in al-Yamoun.
Israeli forces reportedly called for Jarrar to exit the building complex, and when he did not, forces launched at least one missile at the building. Shortly after the missile was fired, forces then began demolishing the building with a bulldozer.
“When Jarrar finally came out of one building, he was armed with an M-16 assault rifle and a bag full of explosives, prompting the Israeli forces to open fire and kill him,” Ynet said.
Ynet added that Israeli forces also arrested several Palestinians hwo they accused of helping Jarrar hide.
Clashes between young Palestinian men and armed Israeli forces erupted in al-Yamoun following the assassination of Jarrar.
A Red Crescent official, Mahmoud al-Saadi, told Ma’an that seven Palestinians suffered from severe tear-gas inhalation during clashes.
Condolences for Jarrar and his family were announced via the loudspeakers of the mosques of Jenin City, while schools and stores closed its gates in mourning as a general strike was announced in the city.
The Islamic Jihad movement said in a statement that Jarrar “represented the real method of resistance which Palestinians live and that Jarrar’s victory would only be accomplished by uprooting the occupation and expelling it.”
The al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, presented its condolences of Jarrar describing him as the “leader of the al-Qassam cell that carried out the heroic Nablus attack weeks ago.”
The Hamas movement also said in a statement that it presents its condolences of Jarrar who “confused the security of the occupation.”
Hamas called upon resistance fighters in the West Bank to “respond to the Israeli crime of assassinating the resisting hero Ahmad Nasr Jarrar.”
Jarrar, who is reported to be in his mid-20s is the 10th Palestinian to have been killed by Israeli forces this year. He is the son of Nasser Jarrar, also a Hamas fighter, who was killed by Israel in 2002 in the Second Intifada.
