During the night, the military force detected a number of Palestinians in the vicinity of Barkan. Suspecting one of them was armed, the soldiers called on them to stop, and when ignored, opened fire at their feet.

When the Palestinians did not stop, the soldiers then opened fire at their upper bodies, in line with IDF fire regulations.

One Palestinian was killed, and others fled the area. The IDF is conducting searches for the other members of the group.

Head of Civil Administration Brig.-Gen Yoav Mordechai spoke early Thursday with the Palestinian commanders in the Kalkilya region and urged them to restrain their forces and the local Palestinian population in response to the incident.

Mordechai and the Palestinian commanders also agreed to establish a joint team to investigate the incident. The Palestinian commander had already toured the scene of the shooting early Thursday.

Over the past two years, the IDF has noted a sharp decline in Palestinian terrorism in the West Bank, particularly in attempted infiltration in settlements, due to a combined effort by the IDF as well as Palestinian forces to curb terror in the area.