Jerusalem, July 5 (EFE).— Five Palestinians were killed on Friday in clashes with the Israeli military during a raid in the Jenin area of the northern occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.
Four of them died in an Israeli drone attack on the building they were staying in. The fifth died in the crossfire following the drone attack.
An Israeli army statement said soldiers were conducting a counterterrorism operation in Jenin and surrounded a building where militants had entrenched themselves, during which an exchange of gunfire took place.
During the exchange of fire, an Air Force drone attacked several armed militants in the area.
The Health Ministry identified the deceased as Ahmad Basem Amouri, 20, Qusay Hazouz, 23, Fuad Aziz Ashkar, 25, and Yassim Al Aridi, 30, who were taken to the government hospital in Jenin after the attack in the refugee camp, a stronghold of armed militias. The fifth deceased was identified as Mohamed Jabareen, 54.
No group has yet claimed them as militants, but the Jenin Brigade, which includes fighters from all militias and factions, has been operating in the area for more than two years.
The official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that special forces of the Israeli Army stormed the camp and besieged the house of Palestinian Ahmed Marwan al Ghoul, in addition to shelling it with projectiles and deploying snipers who opened fire.
Using megaphones, they asked the young man to surrender to the forces while clashes with armed Palestinians erupted around the house.
During the early hours, Israeli troops also carried out raids and fired live ammunition and grenades in the West Bank cities of Nablus and Qalqilya.
The occupied West Bank is experiencing its most severe spiral of violence since the Second Intifada (2000-05). So far this year, at least 236 Palestinians have died from Israeli fire.
The dead include about 50 minors, according to EFE’s count. It follows 2023, the deadliest year in two decades, with over 520 deaths.
On the Israeli side, 17 people have died: 11 soldiers and six civilians, five of whom were settlers.
The Israeli Army intensified its incursions into the occupied West Bank after the Hamas attack on October 7.
Since then, at least 566 Palestinians have died in violent incidents with Israel, primarily involving troops but also settlers.
Additionally, Israel has detained more than 4,150 “terrorism suspects” in the West Bank, claiming that more than 1,700 have links to Hamas. EFE
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