Jerusalem, Jan 26 (EFE).- Nine Palestinians, including an elderly woman, were killed in clashes that erupted when Israeli troops raided a flashpoint West Bank city on Thursday, Palestinian sources said.
Some 20 people were injured in Jenin, four of them are in serious condition, the Palestinian health ministry announced, adding the situation on the ground remained critical.
The Israeli military confirmed that there was an operation in the northern Palestinian city, considered a stronghold of Palestinian militants, saying that forces had come under fire while trying to arrest wanted members from the Islamic Jihad movement.
Six suspects were “neutralized” in an exchange of gunfire and another turned himself in, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) wrote on Twitter.
The suspects were “heavily involved in planning & executing multiple major terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians & soldiers,” according to the IDF.
The Israeli military added that other deaths registered by the Palestinian health ministry are being investigated.
During the West Bank’s deadliest incident in years, Israeli forces prevented ambulances from picking up the wounded, stormed a hospital and fired teargas canisters at the pediatric ward deliberately, the Palestinian health ministry said.
There have been intense Israeli raids and armed clashes with Palestinians, especially since late March last year when Israel launched a military operation it calls “Breaking the Wave” in response to a wave of attacks by Palestinians on Israeli soil.
Since then, violence has been on the rise, leaving dozens of Palestinians dead, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
The fatalities have mostly been militants, but also include children and civilians such as Al Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh.EFE
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