ZAIN JAAFAR / AFP by way of Getty Photos
Jerusalem — Israeli forces killed not less than 9 Palestinians, together with a 60-year-old girl, and wounded a number of others throughout a raid in a flashpoint space of the occupied West Financial institution on Thursday, Palestinian well being officers mentioned, in one of many deadliest days in months of unrest.
The violence occurred throughout what Palestinian well being officers described as a fierce operation within the Jenin refugee camp, a militant stronghold of the West Financial institution that has been a spotlight of almost a 12 months of Israeli arrest raids.
The Israeli navy mentioned forces had been working within the space however did not instantly present some other particulars. Israeli media reported troops got here below hearth in the course of the raid. At the least one of many lifeless was recognized as a militant.
Palestinian Well being Minister Might Al-Kaila mentioned paramedics had been struggling to succeed in the wounded amid the preventing. She known as the state of affairs within the refugee camp “crucial,” in response to Agence France-Presse.
ZAIN JAAFAR / AFP by way of Getty Photos
She additionally accused the navy of firing tear fuel on the pediatric ward of a hospital, inflicting kids to choke. The navy had no speedy remark.
Jenin deputy governor Kamal Abu al-Rub advised AFP residents had been residing in a “actual state of struggle.”
“The Israeli military is destroying all the things and taking pictures at all the things that strikes,” he mentioned.
Jenin hospital recognized the lady killed as Magda Obaid. The Palestinian Well being Ministry earlier recognized one other one of many lifeless as Saeb Azriqi, 24, who was delivered to a hospital in crucial situation after being shot after which died from his wounds. And the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade – an armed militia affiliated with Fatah, the secular political occasion that controls the Palestinian Authority, claimed one of many lifeless, Izz al-Din Salahat, as a fighter. The ministry mentioned not less than 16 individuals had been wounded.
Nidal Eshtayeh / Xinhua by way of Getty Photos
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for the Palestinian Authority, condemned the violence, calling on the worldwide group to talk out in opposition to it.
Tensions between Israelis and Palestinians have soared since Israel launched the raids final spring, following a spate of Palestinian assaults that killed 19 individuals, whereas one other spherical of assaults later within the 12 months introduced the loss of life toll to 30.
Thursday’s violence brings the variety of Palestinians killed this 12 months to 29. Almost 150 Palestinians had been killed final 12 months, making 2022 the deadliest since 2004, in response to the Israeli rights group B’Tselem.
Israel says a lot of the lifeless had been militants. However youths protesting the incursions and others not concerned within the confrontations have additionally been killed.
Israel says the raids are supposed to dismantle militant networks and thwart future assaults. The Palestinians say they additional entrench Israel’s 55-year, open-ended occupation of lands they search for a future state.
Israel captured the West Financial institution, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip within the 1967 Mideast struggle, territories the Palestinians declare for his or her hoped-for state.
