At least six Palestinians had been killed late Tuesday in an Israeli raid on a refugee camp within the West Bank metropolis of Jenin.
Israeli forces claimed that the six had been allegedly armed and one among them was a Hamas member suspected of fatally taking pictures two brothers from a Jewish settlement close to the village of Huwara.
Witnesses stated combating broke out after residents of the camp noticed Israeli troopers getting out of a furnishings truck close to a home on a hill overlooking the middle of the sprawling camp.
A press release from the army stated that Israeli forces used shoulder-fired missiles in opposition to a constructing the place the suspected Hamas member and others had taken refuge.
The Palestinian well being ministry stated six Palestinians had been killed and at the least 16 wounded. One member of the Israeli police power was wounded and three flippantly damage.
The army recognized one of many gunmen as Abdel-Fattah Kharusha, a member of the armed group Hamas, who it stated shot two Israelis whereas they sat of their automotive at a checkpoint close to the Palestinian village of Huwara within the occupied West Bank on Feb. 26. It stated his two sons had been arrested in a raid on the similar time on the town of Nablus, one other heart of militant exercise.
According to statements by Hamas and Islamic Jihad, all these killed had been armed members of the teams.
“We call upon the fighters of our people everywhere to escalate armed resistance against the occupation and to fight them everywhere on the land of our occupied home,” Hamas’ armed wing stated in a press release.
Hamas, which runs the blockaded Gaza Strip however which additionally has members within the West Bank, stated Kharusha was a member and that he carried out the Huwara double killing, the most recent in a sequence of lethal assaults on Israelis by Palestinians this yr.
Jenin, one of many main facilities of militant exercise within the West Bank the place armed fighters parade brazenly, has been raided repeatedly by Israeli forces throughout months of violence that has induced growing fears of a repeat of the Intifadas or uprisings of the Eighties and early 2000s.
“The risk – not just to Palestine and to Israel but to the region – of the situation escalating out of hand is significant,” Saudi Arabia’s overseas minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, advised reporters in London.
The taking pictures of the 2 Israeli brothers triggered a revenge assault by Jewish settlers who killed a Palestinian man and torched dozens of homes and automobiles in a rampage described as a “pogrom” by a senior Israeli commander.
The rampage triggered worldwide outrage and condemnation, which was elevated when ultra-nationalist Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has accountability for elements of the West Bank administration, stated Huwara must be “erased.” Smotrich later provided a partial retraction.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a single day reiterated requires either side to de-escalate tensions, and the violence can also be anticipated to be raised by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin this week when he visits Israel.
However, there was no signal of any let up within the violence, forward of the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the Jewish Passover competition.
More Huwara violence
A spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemned Tuesday’s raid which got here after a significant reinforcement of Israeli forces within the West Bank following the violence in Huwara, which sits close to a significant street junction the place settlers and Palestinians have ceaselessly clashed.
Despite a crackdown by Israeli police, tensions have continued at Huwara and in a single day Israeli settlers attacked Palestinians within the village.
Israeli military and border police forces dispersed what the army described as “a number of violent rioters” in Huwara. Videos shared on social media confirmed black-clad youths attacking a Palestinian automotive earlier than its driver manages to drag away.
“My wife was sitting in the back and she hugged our daughter to cover her,” stated Omar Khalifa, who had simply completed purchasing at a grocery store and was within the automotive together with his household. “We could have lost her. There was real danger to our lives.”
Other footage appeared to indicate Israeli troopers dancing along with Jewish settlers within the city on what was the Jewish competition of Purim. “Huwara has been conquered, gentlemen!” a voice is heard saying in Hebrew.
The army didn’t tackle a query in regards to the footage of troopers dancing with settlers when it responded to a request for info on the incident. Nor did it instantly reply to a Reuters question on whether or not there had been any arrests.
Since the start of the yr, Israeli forces have killed greater than 70 Palestinians, together with militant fighters and civilians, whereas in the identical interval, Palestinians have killed 13 Israelis and one Ukrainian lady in a sequence of apparently uncoordinated assaults.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
