An Israel Defense forces arrest raid in the West Bank early Thursday turned into a violent confrontation with local Palestinians, for the second time this week.

Border Police officers entered the Jenin refugee camp before dawn to arrest a wanted Palestinian militant suspected of involvement in terrorist activities.

Palestinians throwing rocks at Israeli soldiers in West Bank village of Tamoun – Photo: AP

A demonstration broke out during the raid, the IDF said, with some 500 Palestinians hurling stones, firebombs, and burning tires in the streets.

Troops left the camp after it emerged that the wanted Palestinian was not home at the time.

An elderly Palestinian woman was lightly wounded when she was bitten by an army-trained dog. She was taken for treatment at a hospital in Israel. Palestinian witnesses reported that a 23-year-old was also wounded during the incident, when he was shot in the leg.

It is not clear whether the Palestinian woman was bitten during a search of the militant’s home during the arrest raid, or in the confrontations that followed.

The IDF had vowed to cease using dogs to disperse demonstrations, after a Palestinian youth was bitten last year.

Earlier this week, clashes erupted in the northern West Bank village of Tamoun after an undercover Border Police unit arrested a wanted man.

Palestinians said security personnel disguised as vegetable vendors made the arrest. Afterward, Israel Defense Forces troops surrounded and searched 15 houses in the area. According to witnesses, there was a massive security presence, including a combat engineering battalion, Border Police forces and Shin Bet security service personnel.

According to a military source, village residents responded by throwing stones and bottles at the Israeli troops, while the soldiers fired tear gas canisters and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd.

Palestinians reported 30 people injured due to live fire and rubber bullets, and 100 injured due to smoke inhalation. The Red Crescent reported one Palestinian injured by a gas grenade was taken to the hospital with an eye injury. Two soldiers were lightly hurt by stones.

The IDF said it did not regard the riot as anything exceptional compared to the demonstrations that often occur after arrests in the West Bank. The soldiers began leaving the village in the evening, their mission apparently completed.

View original HAARETZ publication (without added YouTube clip) at: http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/idf-arrest-raid-in-west-bank-turns-violent-as-palestinians-demonstrate-en-masse-1.491694