On Saturday, the IDF, in cooperation with the Shin Bet and Border Police, killed a wanted Hamas terrorist in a surprise raid. The counter-terrorism raid took place in the Jenin refugee camp in northern West Bank. The terrorist killed was in the midst of plotting a massive terror attack on Israel. Two other Palestinian terrorists were killed and seven others were wounded.

Hamas operative Hamza Abu al-Hija, 22, Islamic Jihad member Mahmud Abu Zeina, 25, and Yazen Jabarin, 22, a member of Fatah’s al-Aqsa Brigades, were killed in the raid. The IDF reported that a fourth Palestinian was killed but Palestinian media has reported only three.

According to the IDF, Israeli security forces surrounded Abu al-Hija’s house, where he barricaded himself. After refusing to come out, soldiers stormed the hideout where a shootout took place. Abu al-Hija was the only person in the building after everyone else evacuated. When he attempted to escape, Abu al-Hija opened fire first on an army dog sent inside the building and then on troops. The IDF returned fire and shot Abu al-Hija dead.

Abu al-Hija was “wanted for numerous shooting and bombing attacks as well as planning future acts of terrorism.” The Palestinian Ma’an News agency reported that an IDF bulldozer was used to demolish part of the house where Abu al-Hija was hiding.

IDF Spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner confirmed that Abu al-Hija opened fire on security forces while attempting to escape. Lerner said that Abu al-Hija was a “ticking time bomb,” waiting to carry out numerous terrorist attacks against Israel.

Abu al-Hija’s father, Jamal Abu al-Hija, is a famous Hamas leader who was arrested in 2002 by Israel. Sentenced to nine life sentences, Jamal Abu al-Hija took part in at least six known terrorist attacks, including the Jerusalem Sbarro pizza shop bombing in 2001 that killed 15 people.

In a statement from prison, Jamal Abu al-Hija extolled his son’s “heroism” and “blessed his confrontation with occupation forces until his last bullet.” He added that he had been praying for his son’s martyrdom from prison.

Israel’s Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon praised the success of the Jenin raid, saying it was “an important thwarting which prevented a planned terrorist attack that was meant to be carried out against Israeli targets, and thus save lives.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated at Sunday’s weekly cabinet meeting, “Our forces hit someone who planned and organized attacks on innocent civilians…Our policy is to attack those who attack or plan to attack us.”

Netanyahu confirmed that Abu al-Hija was ordered by Hamas in the Gaza Strip to carry out a series of shooting attack on Israeli civilians and military targets.

After the raid, a media outlet based in the Gaza Strip and associated with Hamas tweeted Abu al-Hija’s death and cited sources close to the dead man as saying that he had been “preparing a major operation” against Israel.

The AP reported that hundreds of angry Palestinians mobbed Israeli security forces, attacking them with live fire, stones, Molotov cocktails, and improvised explosives. In the clashes, two Palestinian men died when Israeli forces returned fired.

Reuters reported that Hamas sympathizers carried the dead bodies of the three terrorists through the streets of Jenin, shouting against PA President Mahmoud Abbas, Israel, and calling for a unified vengeance and end to peace talks. Over 10,000 Palestinians took part in the funerals of the dead.

Hamas is accusing the Palestinian Authority of collaborating with Israel in the death of the three terrorists. Hamas cited at least 20 attempts that PA security forces arrested Abu al-Hija prior to his death by Israel on Saturday.

Hamas proclaimed Abu al-Hija a martyr and released a poster in his honor.

Hader Adnan, spokesman for Islamic Jihad, vowed that the terrorist organization would strike back at Israel “blood for blood.”

In a recently release joint statement by Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, the Palestinian terrorist groups warned of severe retribution against Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

“The resistance in the West Bank is alive and won’t die, and the Zionist enemy can’t guess from where the resistance will attack. The blood of Jenin Martyrs won’t go in vain,” the groups stated.

They charged the Palestinian Authority with “equal responsibility” for the raids, proclaiming that “our people won’t forgive the Palestinian security apparatuses for this crime.”