image source, EPA
Nine Palestinians were killed during an Israeli military raid on the West Bank, the deadliest in years, Palestinian authorities have reported.
Among the dead in Jenin, one of the most troubled points in the West Bank, is a 60-year-old woman.
According to the Israeli army, its troops entered the city to arrest jihadist militants who were planning “major attacks”.
The Palestinian presidency has accused Israel of committing a “slaughter” in Jenin, the scene of repeated raids in recent months.
These raids are part of what the Israeli army describes as an anti-terror offensive that began last April.
In the video images taken this Thursday morning in the Jenin refugee camp, you can hear intense gunshots and explosions, as Israeli troops surrounded buildings and clashed with Palestinian militants.
The Palestinian Health Ministry identified three of the dead as Magda Obaid, 60, Saeb Izreiqi, 24, and Izzidin Salahat, 26. Twenty people were also injured, four of them seriously.
image source, Archyde.com
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have claimed that its troops entered Jenin to arrest a “terrorist squad” of the Islamic Jihadwhom they accused of being “heavily involved in the planning and execution of multiple major terrorist attacks once morest Israeli civilians and soldiers.”
They also noted that their soldiers surrounded a building, and that three armed suspects were “neutralized” following they opened fire, while a fourth suspect surrendered. According to the Israeli Army, its troops were fired upon by other Palestinian gunmen, so they returned fire, hitting several targets. They added that they are investigating “claims that there were more casualties.”
Islamic Jihad and Hamas confirmed that their militants attacked the troops with gunfire and improvised explosive devices.
As reported from Jenin by the BBC’s Middle East correspondent Yolande Knell, the house that, according to the Israeli army, was being used as a hideout by the militants suffered a fire.
The exterior walls of the ground floor were reduced to rubble, exposing the faucets and a bathroom sink, the correspondent added. The upper floor was riddled with bullet holes, while the stairwell contained a pool of blood.
Aisha Abu al-Naj, 73, who lives next door, told the BBC that her house trembled during the raid, forcing her and her children to take cover.
“We were afraid. I saw the army and then I mightn’t open or look out the window. It was a scary situation“, said.
“There were some young Palestinians next to our building who then came and surrounded it. They were shot. And then a lot of people died.”
image source, Archyde.com
The official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that seven youths were shot while trying to prevent Israeli forces from entering Jenin, and that troops They “completely destroyed” a club in the camp.
Mohammed Ammori, a local taxi driver, said he was talking to a friend when Israeli troops arrived in cars and a truck and stopped outside a building near the club.
“We heard shots. We fled to the Jenin club and were besieged there for three hours,” he explained.
“After regarding an hour, military bulldozers smashed cars that were parked on both sides of the road and then destroyed the wall of the club,” the taxi driver said.
Palestinian Health Minister Mai al-Kaila said that Palestinian Red Crescent ambulances were initially unable to reach the injured because Israeli troops restricted access to the site.
The children’s ward of the local hospital he was also hit by Israeli tear gas, he said. The Israeli Army acknowledged to the AFP agency that it was possible that a tear gas canister had entered through an open window, since there was activity not far from the hospital.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has declared three days of national mourning in response to what his spokesman has described as a “massacre” that is taking place “in the midst of international silence.”
“This is what encourages the occupation government to commit massacres once morest our people in full view of the world,” said Nabil Abu Rudeineh.
Jenin’s deputy governor, Kamal Abu al-Rub, told AFP that residents live in a “true state of war” and that Israeli forces are “destroying everything and shooting at everything that moves.”
United Nations Middle East envoy Tor Wennesland said: “I am deeply alarmed and saddened by the continuing cycle of violence in the occupied West Bank.”
“Since the beginning of this year, we continue to witness high levels of violence and other negative trends that have already characterized 2022. It is crucial to de-escalate immediately and prevent further loss of life,” he added.
At least 29 Palestinians have been killed by shots fired by Israeli forces in the West Bank so far this year, including militiamen and civilians, in the midst of army operations in the territory.
More than 150 Palestinians were killed last year in the West Bank, almost all by Israeli forces. The dead included unarmed civilians, militants and armed attackers.
Meanwhile, a series of Palestinian attacks on Israelis, as well as militant fire on Israeli soldiers during raids, have killed more than 30 people, including civilians, police and soldiers.
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