Israeli forces killed at least nine Palestinians – including a 60-year-old woman – during a raid in a flashpoint area of the occupied West Bank, making Thursday one of the deadliest days in the territory for years.
A gun battle broke out when Israeli commandos conducted a rare daytime operation in the Jenin refugee camp, where the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group has a major foothold.
At least one of the dead was identified by Palestinians as a militant but it was not clear how many others were affiliated with armed groups. Dozens of people were wounded in he clashes.
It comes weeks into Israel's new government – its most right-wing ever – which has pledged to take a hardline against the Palestinians and ramp up settlement construction.
It also comes days before US secretary of state Antony Blinken is set to visit the region.
Palestinian health minister May Al-Kaila said paramedics struggled to reach the wounded during the fighting. She also accused the military of firing tear gas at the paediatric ward of a hospital, causing children to choke. Video from the hospital showed women carrying children out of hospital rooms and into the corridor. The Israeli military said tear gas had probably wafted into the hospital from the clashes nearby.
Jenin hospital identified the woman killed as Magda Obaid and the Israeli military said it was looking into reports of her death. The health ministry earlier identified another of the dead as Saeb Azriqi, 24, who was brought to hospital in a critical condition after being shot, and died from his wounds.
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade – an armed militia affiliated with Fatah, the secular political party that controls the Palestinian Authority – claimed one of the dead, Izz al-Din Salahat, as a fighter.
“We ask that the international community help the Palestinians against this extremist right wing government and protect our citizens,” Akram Rajoub, the governor of Jenin, said.
Tensions between Israelis and Palestinians have soared since Israel launched raids last spring following a spate of Palestinian attacks that killed 19 people, while another round of attacks later in the year brought the death toll to 30.
Nearly 150 Palestinians were killed last year, making 2022 the deadliest since 2004, according to the Israeli rights group B’Tselem. Israel says most of the dead were militants. But youths protesting against the incursions and others not involved in the confrontations have also been killed. So far this year, and not including Thursday, one-third of the Palestinians killed by Israeli troops or civilians had ties to armed groups.
