Israel: 9 Palestinians killed in deadliest West Bank raid under new Israeli govt
Israeli occupation forces killed nine Palestinians and injured at least twenty on Thursday during violent raids in the occupied city of Jenin and its refugee camp.
The raids began on the evening of January 25 and persisted into January 26, in what is being described as “one of the deadliest days” in the West Bank since last year.
According to the Palestinian Prisoners Club (PPC), several have been detained throughout the raids and transferred for interrogation by Israel’s security service. As a result of the incursions, intense clashes broke out between Israeli troops and resistance fighters, several of whom sustained bullet wounds.
An elderly woman has also been reported among the dead, according to security officials. Eyewitnesses have referred to the situation as a “massacre.”
The Israeli army cut off the power supply to the Jenin camp, while also blocking journalists and ambulance teams from entering. Health officials have said that injuries are continuing to accumulate.
“There is an invasion that is unprecedented in the past period, in terms of how large it is and the number of injuries … The ambulance driver tried to get to one of the martyrs who was on the floor, but the Israeli forces shot directly at the ambulance and prevented them from approaching him,” Wissam Baker, head of Jenin’s public hospital, told media.
The Palestinian Authority said Thursday it was suspending security coordination with Israel after a deadly army raid in the occupied West Bank.
Washington condemned the decision, saying it was not the “right step.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken is due in the region next week pic.twitter.com/fjC7SpQoX2— AFP News Agency (@AFP) January 26, 2023
Despite centering around Jenin and its camp, the Israeli raids also targeted several homes and refugee camps across the West Bank, including Ramallah’s Al-Amari camp and Jerusalem’s Shuafat camp, as well as the towns of Silwan, Sur Baher, Al-Tur, and Al-Isawiya.
In response to the Israeli aggression, the Palestinian resistance managed to down a drone as it was flying over the Jenin refugee camp.
According to reports, an Israeli soldier was killed and another injured in the confrontations. Another report says that the Jenin Brigade of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) resistance movement detonated an explosive device inside an Israeli military jeep, resulting in “casualties in their ranks.”
WATCH: Palestinian fighters shot down an Israeli drone that was surveying the area as Israeli forces raided the Jenin refugee camp.
The raid resulted in the deaths of nine Palestinians in what has been described as a “massacre” by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s office.
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) January 26, 2023
“The military operation in Jenin was launched after intelligence from the Shin Bet about the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement’s intention to carry out a major operation against Israeli targets … the operation aimed to arrest a prominent member of the movement,” Israeli media reported.
The military ended up withdrawing from Jenin, however, the injury toll is expected to rise.
