At least 6 Palestinians killed amid Israeli West Bank raid
JENIN, West Bank — The Israeli army raided a home Tuesday in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, triggering a battle that killed at least six Palestinians and wounded more than two dozen others, Palestinian health officials said.
The military said it had killed the suspected assailant behind a fatal shooting of two Israeli brothers in the northern West Bank town of Hawara last week. An Israeli police spokesperson said three Israeli forces were in fair-to-serious condition after being shot and wounded in Tuesday’s firefight in Jenin.
The Jenin Brigade, a loosely organized armed group based in the Jenin refugee camp, said its militants shot and hurled explosive devices at Israeli soldiers. The troops had surrounded the suspect’s home on the outskirts of the densely populated camp, a hub of militant activity. Videos showed black smoke billowing in the distance after the army fired missiles at the besieged building.
Tuesday’s raid was the latest in a string of deadly arrest operations by the Israeli military in the northern West Bank, as violence surges to its highest levels in years. The raid raised fears of further bloodshed as Israel struggles to contain growing unrest led by young Palestinians in the occupied West Bank who are increasingly taking up arms against Israel’s open-ended occupation, now in its 56th year.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said six people were shot and killed Tuesday — men ranging in age from 22 to 49 — and 26 others were wounded.
Israeli security forces identified Abdul Fattah Kharushah, 49, as a Hamas militant who killed the Israeli brothers in Hawara. Hamas issued a statement claiming Kharushah as a member, without claiming responsibility for the brothers’ killings.
The military also said that Palestinian militants had shot down two drones over Jenin. Footage widely shared online showed young men cheering and taking selfies as they held the charred aircraft aloft.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the army for killing the assailant and sent wishes for a speedy recovery to the wounded. “Whoever harms us will pay the price,” he said.
The spokesman of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, meanwhile, denounced the Israeli military for waging “an all-out war” against the Palestinians and for derailing recent efforts to restore calm.
The army said it also raided the nearby flashpoint city of Nablus and arrested two sons of the suspect, who officials accused of helping their father carry out the attack.
More than 60 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli
fire this year, about half of them militants, according to a tally by The Associated Press. Palestinian attacks against Israelis in east Jerusalem and the West Bank have killed 14 people during that same time.
Last month, a rare daytime military raid in the Old City of Nablus targeting the Lion’s Den, a recently formed militant group, sparked an hourslong gunfight that left 10 Palestinians dead. Palestinian armed groups said that six of the casualties were militants. Others appeared to be bystanders.
Earlier Tuesday, Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir joined Jewish revelers in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, dancing with residents from the hard-line settler community as they celebrated the holiday of Purim.
It was the latest show of force by ultranationalist settlers in the occupied West Bank, who have been bolstered by Ben-Gvir and other allies in the new Israeli government. Overnight, settlers injured a Palestinian man in the same Palestinian town where a settler mob burned cars and houses last week.
Hebron is a contested city that is home to the Tomb of the Patriarchs, a site considered holy to Muslims, Christians and Jews. Hundreds of hard-line settlers live in fortified enclaves under military protection in the heart of a city of more than 200,000 Palestinians.