2023-08-17 06:50:02
Israeli forces killed a Palestinian man in a raid on a military stronghold in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, a new incident of violence in a city that has seen some of the worst incidents in this round of clashes between Israelis and Palestinians.
The region has been mired in violence since last spring, when Israel began carrying out almost nightly raids in response to a series of deadly Palestinian attacks. The fighting has escalated to the most intense fighting in the West Bank in some two decades, as attacks by radical Jewish settlers have increased and the far-right Israeli government has expanded settlements, fueling tensions.
The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the deceased as 32-year-old Mustafa al-Kastouni. It was not initially clear if the man was affiliated with an armed group. The Hamas armed group said its fighters had engaged in a shooting battle with Israeli troops and hurled explosives at the soldiers.
The Israeli army did not immediately comment.
Jenin, a city where Palestinian security forces have little presence, has long been a bulwark of armed struggle against Israel. The Israeli operation in recent months has focused on the town and an attached refugee camp, with an intensive two-day intervention last month. Israel deployed armed drones and hundreds of troops in that raid, which left extensive destruction and killed 12 Palestinians, most of them militants. An Israeli soldier was also killed.
Israel says the raids are intended to dismantle militant networks and thwart future attacks. Palestinians see the violence as a natural response to 56 years of occupation, which now includes increased settlement construction by the Israeli government and increasing violence by Jewish settlers.
Fighting in the West Bank has reached levels not seen in nearly two decades, with more than 170 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire so far this year, according to a tally by The Associated Press.
Israel says most of the dead were militants, but youth stone-throwers protesting the incursions and people not taking part in the confrontations have also been killed.
At least 27 people have been killed in Palestinian attacks on Israelis since the start of the year.
Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Middle East war, along with the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. The Palestinians claim those territories for a future independent state.
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Shurafa reported from Gaza City, Gaza Strip.
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