Friday, March 29, 2024 | Ramadan 18, 1445 H
clear sky
weather
OMAN
25°C / 25°C
EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Israeli raid in West Bank kills four: Palestinian ministry

People gather as sand is seen covering the site where Palestinians were killed during a raid by undercover Israeli forces in Jenin. — Reuters
People gather as sand is seen covering the site where Palestinians were killed during a raid by undercover Israeli forces in Jenin. — Reuters
minus
plus

RAMALLAH: Israeli forces on Thursday killed four Palestinians including a teenager in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said, the latest deadly raid on Jenin.


The Israeli army said troops “neutralised” two suspected militants, accusing them of “terrorist activities”.


The Palestinian health ministry said 23 others had been wounded in the raid in the northern West Bank city, five of them seriously.


It identified those killed as Omar Awadin, 16, Luay al-Zughair, 37, Nidal Khazim, 28 and Youssef Shreem, 29.


The army statement said Khazim and Shreem were both residents of the Jenin refugee camp and members of IJ.


The group said Israel “will pay the price for these crimes” without identifying the two as its members.


Mahmoud al Saadi of the Palestinian Red Crescent in Jenin said that “an Israeli undercover unit stormed the city centre’s Abu Bakr street”.


The raid comes days before a planned meeting between Palestinian and Israeli officials on Sunday in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el Sheikh for talks aimed at reducing tensions ahead of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadhan.


Hamas, which rules in the Israeli-blockaded Gaza Strip, called the latest raid a “crime”, warning it will not go “unanswered”.


Israeli forces have launched numerous raids on the city of Jenin and its eponymous refugee camp in recent months targeting Palestinian militants.


These raids have killed more than 20 Palestinians since the start of the year, including seven earlier this month and 10 in January.


Israel has occupied the West Bank since the Six-Day War of 1967.


Since the start of the year, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has claimed the lives of 85 Palestinian adults and children, including militants and civilians.


Thirteen Israeli adults and children, including members of the security forces and civilians, and one Ukrainian civilian have been killed over the same period.


On Tuesday, a senior Hamas official warned Israel his group would react to any possible “violations” at Jerusalem’s holy sites during Ramadhan, which begins later in March.


Salah al Aruri, deputy head of the Hamas political bureau, said the risk of escalation entirely “depends on the Israeli occupation’s violations across Palestine and at Al-Aqsa mosque” located in annexed east Jerusalem.


Al Aqsa, a Jordan-administered mosque compound, is the third holiest site in Islam. It is built on top of what Jews call the Temple Mount, Judaism’s holiest site.


— AFP


SHARE ARTICLE
arrow up
home icon