Israeli forces kill four people in Jenin and a man near Hebron, calling their raids an “anti-terrorist operation.”
Israeli forces have killed five Palestinians in the West Bank, health officials say, as violence escalates in the occupied territory amid Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.
The Israeli military said Monday its forces encountered explosive devices during a raid on the northern city of Jenin and called another incursion near Hebron a “counterterrorism operation.” .
The Palestinian Health Ministry said four people aged 23 to 28 were killed in the early morning raid on the Jenin refugee camp, a stronghold of Palestinian armed groups and a target of frequent military incursions.
Nine other people were injured, according to a ministry statement.
According to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA, “more than 100 military vehicles and two bulldozers” took part in the raid.
Military drones hovered over the area and army snipers were positioned on buildings around Jenin’s main hospital.
Part of the hospital’s surrounding wall was demolished by armored military bulldozers.
The Israeli army said its troops had discovered “explosive devices placed under roads in order to attack (its) forces”.
The Palestinian Health Ministry also said a 23-year-old man was shot dead by Israeli forces in the town of Yatta, near Hebron.
The Israeli military said its forces had “led a counterterrorism fight in the region to apprehend the wanted suspects.”
The ministry also confirmed on Monday that another 23-year-old man died after being shot by a settler a few days ago in Ras Karkar, northwest of Ramallah.
Previous murders
The deaths came a day after five Palestinians were killed by army fire during military incursions into the occupied West Bank.
The Health Ministry says around 120 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied territory since Hamas fighters stormed the border with Gaza in the October 7 attack.
Hamas fighters killed 1,400 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli officials.
Israel responded with relentless bombardments that killed more than 8,300 people, more than half of them children, according to Gaza’s health ministry. In recent days, Israeli ground forces have entered Gaza.
The West Bank was already a hotbed of tensions before the Gaza war, with frequent raids by the Israeli army, an increase in attacks by Jewish settlers and Palestinian attacks on settlements.
Israel occupied the West Bank during the 1967 Israeli-Palestinian war and its forces regularly carry out raids against Palestinian fighters there.