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Israeli Troops Disguised as Arabs Kill 2 Palestinian Security Officers

Palestinians outside the Israeli Central Court in East Jerusalem demonstrate against the planned eviction of Arab families from the city’s Silwan district. (AFP)
Palestinians outside the Israeli Central Court in East Jerusalem demonstrate against the planned eviction of Arab families from the city’s Silwan district. (AFP)
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Israeli Troops Disguised as Arabs Kill 2 Palestinian Security Officers

Palestinians outside the Israeli Central Court in East Jerusalem demonstrate against the planned eviction of Arab families from the city’s Silwan district. (AFP)
Palestinians outside the Israeli Central Court in East Jerusalem demonstrate against the planned eviction of Arab families from the city’s Silwan district. (AFP)

Israeli troops shot and killed three Palestinians, including two security officers, in a shootout that erupted in the occupied West Bank town of Jenin during what appeared to be an Israeli arrest raid overnight, Palestinian officials said on Thursday.

A spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned what he called a “dangerous Israeli escalation,” saying the three were killed by Israeli special forces who disguise themselves as Arabs during arrest raids, The Associated Press reported.

The spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, called on the international community and the US to intervene to halt such attacks.

The Israeli military and police did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Israeli media reported that special forces went into Jenin to arrest two operatives from the Islamic Jihad group when they came under fire. One of the Palestinian suspects was killed, in addition to the two security officers, the media reports said. There were no reports of any Israeli casualties.

The PA said the two officers who were killed, Adham Aliwi, 23, and Tayseer Issa, 33, were members of its military intelligence force. Islamic Jihad identified the third man as Jamil Alamouri, one of its fighters.

Online video appears to show Palestinian officers taking cover behind a vehicle as gunshots are heard in the background. One shouts that they are exchanging fire with Israeli “undercover” forces.

Under interim peace agreements signed in the 1990s, the Palestinian Authority has limited autonomy in scattered enclaves that together make up around 40 percent of the occupied West Bank.

Israel has overarching security authority in the West Bank and routinely carries out arrest raids in Palestinian cities and towns administered by the PA.

Israel and the Palestinian Authority coordinate security operations in the territory against Hamas and other militant groups seen as a threat to both of them. The coordination has contributed to mounting anger at the PA among Palestinians.

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The Arrest of Aws Salloum: What We Know About the ‘Azrael of Sednaya’

Photo of Salloum circulated on X
Photo of Salloum circulated on X
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The Arrest of Aws Salloum: What We Know About the ‘Azrael of Sednaya’

Photo of Salloum circulated on X
Photo of Salloum circulated on X

The name Aws Salloum, nicknamed the “Azrael of Sednaya,” has dominated social media over the past few hours. Syrian activists widely shared images of him in detention, alongside a resurfaced video of Syrian activist Mazen Hamada, who suffered torture in Syrian prisons and spoke of a jailer referred to as “Azrael.”

The “Radaa al-Adwan” (Deterrence Against Aggression) operations room announced the capture of the “Azrael of Sednaya,” accused of torturing and killing numerous prisoners. According to the announcement, Salloum was arrested during Thursday’s raids in Homs targeting remnants of the Assad regime.

Who Is Aws Salloum?

Syrian activists circulated videos showing a man arrested in Homs, identified as Aws Salloum. Salloum hails from the village of Al-Qabo in rural Homs, an area known for its loyalty to deposed Syrian president Bashar al-Assad during the Syrian revolution.

He joined the security forces of the Assad regime, where he gained notoriety for his brutality, as evidenced by survivor testimonies. He earned the nickname “Azrael of Sednaya” due to his heinous methods of torture and execution in Sednaya Prison, infamously referred to as the “human slaughterhouse.”

According to survivor accounts reported by the media, Salloum was responsible for the execution of over 500 detainees in gruesome ways, including crushing prisoners’ heads with concrete blocks. Former prisoners described Salloum as one of the most brutal jailers, employing extreme violence to maintain control and instill terror among inmates.

Activists also shared an old video of Syrian dissident Mazen Hamada recounting his experience with a jailer nicknamed “Azrael.”

In the video, Hamada said: “There was a man who called himself Azrael. He would come to us in the hospital at midnight, drunk. He would ask, ‘Who wants medicine?’ A young man from Daraya warned us, ‘Don’t raise your hands.’ When I asked why, he replied, ‘Do you want to die? If you raise your hand, you’ll be killed.’”

Hamada continued: “A man from Ghouta said, ‘I do.’ Azrael of Sednaya responded, ‘The Divine Court sentences you to death,’ and proceeded to beat him with a metal rod tipped with nails until he decapitated him.”

Mazen Hamada himself was later killed under torture in Syrian prisons. His body was discovered at a military hospital after al-Assad’s fall.

After the ousting of the Assad regime on December 8, opposition armed factions opened all prisons across the country, releasing detainees. This revealed the extent of the horrors committed in these facilities, with Sednaya Prison standing out as one of the most notorious sites of abuse. However, the fate of thousands of disappeared and detained individuals remains unknown, while mass graves continue to be unearthed across the country, bearing testimony to years of war crimes and atrocities.