BY MAJDI MOHAMMED AND TIA GOLDENBERG
JENIN REFUGEE CAMP, West Bank (AP) — Israeli forces killed
at least nine Palestinians, including a 60-year-old woman, and wounded several
others during a raid in a flashpoint area of the occupied
The violence occurred during what Palestinian health
officials described as a fierce, daytime operation in the Jenin refugee camp, a
militant stronghold of the
The fighting comes weeks into
The Israeli military said it was conducting the rare daytime
operation because of intelligence it had received that a militant grouping
linked to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which has a major foothold in the
camp, was set to carry out imminent attacks against Israelis. A gun battle
erupted, during which the military said it targeted the militants. At least one
of the dead was identified by Palestinians as a militant.
Palestinian Health Minister May Al-Kaila said paramedics
were struggling to reach the wounded amid the fighting. She also accused the
military of firing tear gas at the pediatric ward of a hospital, causing
children to choke. Video from the hospital showed women carrying children out
of hospital rooms and into the corridor. The military said tear gas had likely
wafted into the hospital from the clashes nearby.
Jenin hospital identified the woman killed as Magda Obaid
and the Israeli military said it was looking into reports of her death. The
Palestinian Health Ministry earlier identified another one of the dead as Saeb
Azriqi, 24, who was brought to a hospital in critical condition after being
shot, and died from his wounds. And the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade — an armed
militia affiliated with Fatah, the secular political party that controls the
Palestinian Authority, claimed one of the dead, Izz al-Din Salahat, as a
fighter. The ministry said at least 20 people were wounded.
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for the Palestinian
Authority, condemned the violence, calling on the international community to
speak out against it.
Akram Rajoub, the governor of Jenin, told The
Associated Press the military prevented medical teams from evacuating the
wounded and fired tear gas that seeped into the government hospital, affecting
infants and interrupting surgeries. The military said forces closed roads to
facilitate their operation, which may have complicated the efforts of rescue
teams to reach the wounded.
“We ask that the international community help the
Palestinians against this extremist right-wing government and protect our
citizens,” he said.
The deaths drew condemnation from neighboring
The Islamic Jihad branch in the coastal enclave has
repeatedly fought against
“The response of the resistance to what happened today in
Jenin camp will not be delayed,” warned top Hamas official Saleh Arouri.
Tensions between Israelis and Palestinians have soared since
Nearly 150 Palestinians were killed last year, making 2022
the deadliest since 2004, according to the Israeli rights group B’Tselem.
Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza
Strip in the 1967 Mideast war, territories the Palestinians claim for their
hoped-for state.
Israel’s new far-right government, headed by Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu and propped up by ultranationalist and ultra-Orthodox
parties, has pledged to put West Bank settlement expansion at the top of its
priority list and has already announced a series of punitive steps against the
Palestinians for pushing the U.N.’s highest judicial body to give its opinion
on the Israeli occupation.
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Goldenberg reported from Tel