Three Israeli officers killed by former Palestinian presidential guard

Three Israeli police officers were killed on Sunday morning near Hebron in the occupied West Bank by a former member of the Palestinian Authority (PA) presidential guard.

According to the Israeli army, the suspect's vehicle followed the car carrying the three officers. After the shooting, the officers lost control of their vehicle, with one officer killed at the scene and two declared dead en route to the hospital.

Sources speaking to Middle East Eye identified the assailant as Muhannad al-Asood, a resident of Idhna in Hebron, who was born in Jordan and a citizen of the country. Asood returned to his native West Bank in 1998 with his family after obtaining family reunification.

Asood was also a former member of the Palestinian presidential guard, resigned from his position in 2015 and was reportedly a member of Fatah which controls the PA. 

Following the attack, he abandoned his car and fled on foot, according to Israeli reports.

Later on Sunday, the Israeli army and Shin Bet security service announced they had besieged a house in Hebron where the suspect involved in the shooting near the Tarqumiya checkpoint was hiding.

Israeli authorities informed the PA that they had killed the perpetrator of the Hebron attack.

This development comes as the Israeli army continues its invasion of cities and refugee camps in the northern West Bank as part of a military operation called "Summer Camps," now in its fifth consecutive day.

The Israeli assault has expanded into Jenin and its refugee camp, sparking intense resistance from Palestinian factions in several neighbourhoods.

The occupying Israeli forces have tightened their siege on numerous towns in the Jenin area, as well as Tulkarm and the Nur Shams and Tulkarm camps.

Israeli forces have been deployed at the entrances to towns in the northern West Bank, particularly around the camps and in the Tulkarm and Jenin regions, restricting Palestinian movement within these areas.

This includes a comprehensive siege on Jenin, where many families from the camp have been forcibly displaced.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health reported that the Israeli invasion of the northern West Bank has resulted in the deaths of 23 Palestinians - 14 in Jenin, five in Tulkarm, and four in Tubas - bringing the total number of Palestinians killed by Israel and its settlers since 7 October to 677