Abbas
Abbasצילום: רויטרס

Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas condemned the killing of five Hamas terrorists in shootouts with IDF forces Sunday.

“These crimes are the continuation of an ongoing series of violations and field executions of our people. Should this policy continue, it will cause the situation to explode," Abbas stated.

An IDF officer and soldier were seriously wounded in one of the shootouts, which occurred during operations to prevent an imminent attack by Hamas terrorists in Judea and Samaria.

The IDF said that the circumstances of the incident would be investigated. The wounded were evacuated for medical treatment at a hospital and their condition is defined as serious. Notices of the situation were given to their families.

The officer and soldier were shot by the terrorists in the upper torso. During the evacuation of the wounded, another shot was fired at the soldiers carrying them. A terrorist was killed and another was wounded and arrested in the firefight.

Hamas, for its part, blamed the PA for the deaths of its members.

“The death of today’s martyrs is the consequence of ongoing security coordination with the Zionist occupation. It is the fruit of normalization meetings which PA leaders held with Zionist ministers and Knesset members in Ramallah,” said Hamas spokesperson Abd al-Latif al-Qanou.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennet said of last night's activities: "Security forces acted tonight in Judea and Samaria against Hamas terrorists who were about to carry out terrorist attacks in the short term. The soldiers and commanders in the field acted as expected of them, sought contact and we fully support them."