Three Palestinians died, including a minor, and 29 were injured in the armed confrontations that broke out this Monday in various parts of Jenin, north of the occupied West Bank, during an operation by the Israeli army.
Jenin province deputy governor Kamal Abu al-Roub told Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency that the Israeli army entered the Jenin refugee camp around 4:00 a.m. (1:00 a.m. in Lisbon), which provoked violent confrontations. .
The Palestinian Health Ministry identified Khaled Asasa, 21, Qassam Abu Sariya, 29, and Ahmed Saqr, 15, among the dead and said at least four others were seriously injured in the shooting.
According to the official Palestinian agency Wafa, at least two Palestinians were arrested in the operation, which aimed to arrest, among others, the son of Jamal Abu al-Hija, the leader of Hamas in the West Bank, currently imprisoned in Israel.
Most of the wounded are militants who responded to the Israeli operation in Jenin, one of the hotbeds of the Palestinian militant movement, although a 15-year-old girl was also wounded by a shot that entered her home, according to Wafa.
The agency said Palestinian gunmen fired improvised explosive devices at Israeli military vehicles and several soldiers were injured, though the Israeli army has yet to comment on the operation.
The Israel Armed Forces launched an operation involving tanks and helicopters and used live bullets, tear gas and stun grenades in the Jenin refugee camp and the neighboring village of Burkin, sparking clashes with Palestinian gunmen.
The Jenin Battalion group, which brings together various militias linked to different Palestinian factions in the refugee camp, confirmed that it responded “to the aggression of the occupiers.”
The occupied West Bank is experiencing the highest peak of violence since the Second Intifada (2000-2005), with 126 Palestinians killed this year, including 21 minors, the majority in armed clashes with Israeli troops in Nablus and Jenin.
The area has also seen an increase in the number of new Palestinian armed groups, attacks against Israelis, as well as settler attacks. On the Israeli side, 21 people have been killed in these incidents this year, mostly settlers.
Since the beginning of the year, at least 160 Palestinians, 21 Israelis, one Ukrainian and one Italian have been killed in violence related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to an AFP tally drawn from official Israeli and Palestinian sources.
The clashes come a day after a new setback for Israeli-Palestinian relations, with Israel approving the acceleration of the construction of new settlements in the occupied West Bank and giving far-right minister Bezalel Smotrich the authority to approve all phases of the initiative. .
Source: TSF
