Three Israeli cops killed during West Bank shooting

The slain police officers were identified as Ch. Insp. Arik Ben Eliyahu, Command Sgt. Maj. Hadas Branch, and First Sgt. Roni Shakuri.

According to reports, a suspected Palestinian gunman opened fire at a police car close to the Idhna-Tarqumiyah junction and then fled the scene.

He was reportedly killed during an exchange of fire with security forces in Hebron city.

Ben Eliyahu and Branch were declared dead at the scene, while Shakuri died en route to a hospital, reported The Times of Israel.

The shooting took place at a time when Israeli forces were conducting   deadly assault on Jenin for a fifth consecutive day

As the crisis in the West Bank continues to escalate alongside the ongoing war in Gaza, UN Secretary-General António Guterres earlier called for an “immediate cessation” of Israeli military operations in the occupied Palestinian territory.

Guterres’s intervention late Wednesday comes amid one of the biggest Israeli Security Forces (ISF) operations in the West Bank in years – the ISF insists against terrorists - with raids, airstrikes including drones that by Thursday had killed 17 people, according to Palestinian media.

In a statement, the spokesperson for the UN chief said that he was deeply concerned by airstrikes in Tulkarm and Tubas governorates which caused casualties and damage to public infrastructure. The UN Secretary-General also strongly condemned the loss of lives, including children’s.