Heavily armed Israeli soldiers storm refugee camp and leave at least 16 wounded
At least nine Palestinians, including an elderly woman, have been killed by an Israeli raid on Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank on Thursday.
The Palestinian health ministry said nine people were shot dead by Israeli forces, and a further 16 were wounded. Four of those were in a critical condition, it added.
Heavily armed soldiers entered the camp, reportedly disguised in a commercial truck, and opened fire on residents attempting to block their entry.
The army entered the area with bulldozers, local media reported, and targeted a building used as a meeting place.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s office said the killings were “a massacre from the Israeli occupation government, in the shadow of international silence.”
“This is what encourages the occupation government to commit massacres against our people in full view of the world,” said Nabil Abu Rudeinah, spokesperson for Abbas.
Tear gas fired in hospital
One of those killed has been identified as Saeb Issam Mahmoud Izreiqi, 24, who was rushed to a local hospital after being shot by Israeli fire, where he later succumbed to his wounds.
Palestinian Health Minister Mai al-Kaileh said that Red Crescent medical workers were unable to evacuate the wounded due to Israeli soldiers restricting access to the refugee camp.
He added that Israeli forces “stormed Jenin Government Hospital and intentionally fired tear gas canisters at the paediatric department in the hospital”.
Israel’s army confirmed reports of soldiers entering the camp, claiming that it was in response to intelligence reports about a “terror attack” being planned.
The latest killings bring the death toll of Palestinians killed this year to 29.
Israeli forces conduct near-nightly search-and-arrest operations in the West Bank, which often turn deadly.
Most of the raids in recent months have focused on Nablus and Jenin, where in the face of increasing Israeli crackdowns Palestinian armed resistance is growing.
According to data compiled by Middle East Eye, Israeli forces killed more Palestinians in the occupied West Bank in 2022 than in any single calendar year since the Second Intifada.
At least 220 people died in Israeli attacks across the occupied territories in 2022, including 48 children. Of the total death toll, 167 were from the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and 53 were from the Gaza Strip.
