Two Palestinians killed in Israeli raid on Jenin camp
Shtayyeh slams latest operati on an d c alls f or ‘urgen t’ ac ti on to ease spi ralli ten si on s; UN un c overs a ‘man -mad e c avi ty’ un d er a sc hool n g
Israeli forces shot dead two Palestinians on Thursday during an arrest raid that sparked gun batles in West Bank, said Palestinian officials and Israel’s army.
Palestinianprimeministermohammadshtayyeh condemned the latest Israeli raid and called for “urgent” action to ease spiralling tensions in the West Bank.
Muhammad Ayman Al Saadi, 26, and Naim Jamal Zubaidi, 27, were “killed by the Israeli occupation bullets at dawn today during its aggression on Jenin camp,” a Palestinian health ministry statement said.
Israel’s army and Prime Minister Yair Lapid identified both Saadi and Zubaidi as Palestinians and confirmed their deaths in the operation, Israel’s latest in the West Bank.
The Israeli army called Saadi “a high ranking operative in the Islamic Jihad organisation,” while Lapid described Zubaidi as “a senior member of the Al Aqsa (Martyrs) Brigade,” the armed wing of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah movement.
Palestinian sources familiar with Islamic Jihad who requested anonymity confirmed Saadi was a member of the group.
Zubaidi belonged to a prominent Jenin family whose relatives have been targeted by Israeli forces.
The army said it had entered the town of Wadi Bruqin where “three wanted individuals suspected of involvement in terrorist activities were apprehended.” “During the operation, armed suspects shot at the security forces, who responded with live fire,” the army said in a statement.
Lapid praised the raids as “a direct continuation of our uncompromising policy on the fight against terrorism,” charging that both Palestinians killed on Tuesday “planned and carried out atacks on Israeli territory.” Following Thursday’s raid, Islamic Jihad warned Israel “will pay dearly,” and it praised those killed in Jenin.
The group also fired three rockets that landed in the Mediterranean Sea on Thursday, security sources in Gaza said.
On Monday, the United Nations (UN) envoy for Middle East peace, Tor Wennesland, warned the situation in the West Bank was “reaching a boiling point.” “High levels of violence in the occupied West Bank and Israel in recent months, including atacks against Israeli and Palestinian civilians, increased use of arms and setler-related violence, have caused grave human suffering,” he told the Security Council.
In Gaza meanwhile, the UN said it had uncovered a “man-made cavity” under one of the schools it operates - an apparent reference to underground tunnels used by Palestinians, including the Hamas group that rules the territory.
Hamas’ sophisticated tunnel system has helped it fight wars against Israel.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, which operates the school, said it protested the discovery under its facility to authorities in Gaza.
It called the tunnel “a serious violation of the agency’s neutrality and a breach of international law.” Israel accuses Hamas and others of operating from within the civilian population in the densely populated territory.
Fighting between Israel and the Islamic Jihad has intensified in recent months, including from the Gaza Strip, where a two-day spasm of violence erupted in the summer, killing dozens of Palestinians and disrupting the lives of hundreds of thousands of Israelis.
The group has a significant presence in Jenin where the Palestinian security forces have less of a foothold, making the area, in the northern West Bank, a focus of Israeli military operations in recent months.
The military has been conducting months of arrest raids in the West Bank, that killed 19 people.
Palestinians say the atacks entrench Israel’s open-ended occupation and undermine their own security forces.
The raids have ratcheted up tensions between Israelis and Palestinians, triggering another wave of Palestinian atacks in recent weeks that have killed an additional nine people.
Israel captured the West Bank, along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Mideast war.
The Palestinians want those territories for their hoped-for future state.