The Israeli army on Thursday stepped up its operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, a center of militant opposition to the Israeli occupation, killing two men wanted in the killing of three Israelis. were
The men, identified on Thursday as Mohammed Nizal and Qutiba Shalabi, belonged to a militant group, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and attacked an Israeli bus and cars in the West Bank village of al-Hadil earlier this month. was fired targeting. The Israeli army said.
Since a cease-fire began in Gaza this week, Israel has turned its attention to Jenin, which Israeli officials have described as the military’s top priority. It is the latest in a series of manhunts for the militants that have blocked roads and left many Gazans holed up in their homes in fear. At least 10 people have been killed and more than 40 injured in raids this week, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said on Wednesday.
The official Palestinian Prisoners’ Commission says dozens of people have been arrested.
The Israeli military said in a statement on Thursday that the two militants were killed in a shootout in the village of Berkin, just west of Jenin, a day earlier. An Israeli soldier was injured.
Hamas-run Al-Aqsa TV published photos of the two men and said they were members of its armed wing. At the same time, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad acknowledged the death of the two people who carried out the attack. It said Mr Nazal, 25, was the leader of its Jenin battalion.
In a statement on Telegram, a social messaging app, he said he died “after engaging in a skirmish with enemy forces who had surrounded him.” It was not clear whether Mr Nazal was a member of both groups.
The move comes amid rapidly escalating tensions in the West Bank, as militants have grown in power and settler violence against Palestinian civilians has increased.
On June 6, Palestinian gunmen opened fire on a civilian bus and cars in a militant attack. Israeli settlers attacked the village along with other West Bank towns this week, setting fire to vehicles and property, according to Palestinian officials and the Israeli military.
During their raids in recent years, Israeli bulldozers have torn up roads and water pipes, looking for explosive devices planted by militants.
Jenin Mayor Mohammad Jarrar said thousands of people have fled the neighborhood known as the Jenin camp, the center of the Israeli operation. Those who remained were cut off from electricity and running water, he said, looming as a “human catastrophe”.
“Every time we rebuild, only to be destroyed again by the next raid,” he said.
Mr. Jarrar added that the city had opened some public shelters to receive people displaced by the Israeli army’s operations, but was having difficulty providing them with enough food and supplies.
Hospital director Wissam Bakr said Israeli soldiers have set up checkpoints near Jenin’s main public hospital, inspecting every vehicle entering and leaving the medical complex. Dr. Booker said soldiers usually let ambulances pass relatively quickly after inspection, but occasionally soldiers stop them, causing delays.
The Israeli campaign began after security forces with the Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, launched an operation in Jenin, handing over security there largely to Israeli forces. went
The latest Israeli operation appears to be the most significant since a 10-day raid in the West Bank in August and September that killed 39 people, most of them in Jenin, according to Palestinian officials. Houses, shops and roads were also demolished in the raids.
The United Nations has condemned violence in the West Bank, and the world’s highest court, the International Court of Justice, issued an advisory opinion in the summer saying Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem and its settlements violate international law. are a violation of Law Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized this opinion, saying that these settlements are legal.
Jenin is a center of Palestinian resistance in the West Bank – both to Israeli occupation and the Palestinian Authority – and many young people there have joined Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other armed groups.
