This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/19/sraeli-forces-helicopter-raid-jenin-west-bank-palestinians-killed

The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 2
Israeli forces launch helicopter raid on Jenin in occupied West Bank Israeli forces launch helicopter raid on Jenin in occupied West Bank
(about 6 hours later)
Three Palestinians killed in ‘massive exchange of fire’ as Israeli army enters city to arrest ‘suspects’ Four Palestinians killed and 45 injured, according to Palestinian officials as Israeli army enters city to arrest ‘suspects’
Israeli forces have killed three Palestinians including a teenager and fired missiles from a helicopter during a raid on the occupied West Bank the army said was to pursue “wanted suspects”. The Israeli military has used combat helicopters in the occupied West Bank for the first time in years, as an arrest operation in Jenin encountered unexpectedly fierce Palestinian resistance.
“Three Palestinians died as a result of the occupation (Israeli) aggression on Jenin,” a statement from the Palestinian health ministry said, adding that at least 29 others were wounded. The heavy fighting intensified calls by settler leaders to call for a broader military campaign in the West Bank.
It named the three who died as Qassam Abu Saria, 29, Khaled Assassa, 21 and Ahmed Saqer, 15. As of late afternoon on Monday, the fighting was still raging, with four Palestinians killed, including a 15-year-old boy, and 45 injured, including four critically, according to Palestinian health officials. One of those was a 15-year-old girl who Palestinian witnesses quoted by Israel’s Haaretz website, said was shot inside her house. A Palestinian journalist, Hazem Nasser, a freelance cameraman wearing press gear, was wounded, according to the Foreign Press Association.
The Israeli army said a “massive exchange of fire” erupted as forces entered the northern West Bank city to arrest “wanted suspects”. The dead Palestinians were identified as Ahmed Saqr, 15, Qassam Abu Saraya, 29 who was claimed as a fighter by Islamic Jihad, Khaled Asasa, 21 and Qais Jabareen, 21.
“IDF (army) helicopters opened fire toward the gunmen in order to assist in extraction of the forces” after “large numbers of explosive devices were hurled at the forces”, it added in a statement. Seven Israeli soldiers and militarised border police sustained light to moderate injuries, according to an army spokesperson.
The army said a military vehicle had been damaged by an explosive device. Israel’s Kan public broadcaster said late on Monday afternoon that all remaining soldiers had been successfully withdrawn from Jenin.
A Palestinian intelligence official told AFP on condition of anonymity it was the first time since 2002 – during the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising – that the Israeli army has fired missiles from an aircraft during a raid in Jenin. Violence in the West Bank territory occupied by Israel during the 1967 Middle East war has worsened since early last year when Israel began mounting repeated army raids after a spate of Palestinian attacks. One hundred and twenty-three Palestinians and at least 21 Israelis have died, according to the Associated Press.
An AFP photographer in the city, the scene of frequent clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants, confirmed that fighting was ongoing as of 10.30 am (0730 GMT) on Friday. Monday’s fighting seemed to be particularly serious, with senior Palestinian official Hussein al-Sheikh accusing Israel of waging “fierce and open war” against the Palestinian people. Palestinian politician Mustafa Barghouti predicted that Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, the most rightwing in Israeli history, could escalate to the use of fighter aircraft in the West Bank.
Jenin’s deputy governor, Kamal Abu al-Rub, told AFP the Israeli forces had launched the raid at around 4am (0100 GMT). Monday’s raid clearly did not go as planned from an Israeli point of view. The entry of troops triggered a massive exchange of fire with gunmen, during which, according to the military, “hits” were identified. “As the security forces exited the city, a military vehicle was hit by an explosive device, damaging the vehicle.”
“The army stormed the (Jenin refugee) camp and the city after the dawn prayer in large numbers, and there was intense gunfire,” he said. The army spokesperson said helicopters were called in and opened fire at Palestinian gunmen in order to help extract soldiers. Israeli media reports said it was the first use of combat helicopters in the West Bank since the second intifada uprising, which ended in 2005.
Hussein al-Sheikh, the Palestinian Authority’s civil affairs minister, said a “fierce and open war is being waged against the Palestinian people … by the occupation (Israeli) forces”. “Helicopters had to be called in because of the unexpected results of the raid, soldiers being wounded and an armoured vehicle getting blown up,” said Menachem Klein, professor emeritus at Bar-Ilan University and a visiting professor in the war studies department at King’s College London. Despite the devastating casualty toll, Palestinian militants will not be deterred by the raid and may even consider their fight on Monday a kind of victory given the imbalance of power, he predicted.
He called for the Palestinian leadership to take “unprecedented decisions” without elaborating. Klein added that with settlers pressing the government in which they command heavy influence for an all out incursion, it is likely the army will in the near future mount a major operation in Jenin and keep troops there for at least a few days.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since the 1967 six-day war and its forces regularly launch incursions into Palestinian cities, which are nominally under the control of President Mahmud Abbas’s Palestinian Authority. Bezalel Smotrich, a far-right leader, posted on Twitter during Monday’s fighting that “the time has come to replace the tweezer operations with a wide ranging campaign to eradicate the nests of terror”.
Jenin and its adjacent refugee camp have frequently been the scene of violent clashes between Israel and the Palestinians. In March, four Palestinians were killed during the a raid on the camp. Ten Palestinian were killed in another operation in the camp in January – the deadliest single raid in the West Bank for 20 years. Sufian Taha contributed from East Jerusalem
Since the start of the year, at least 162 Palestinians, 21 Israelis, a Ukrainian and an Italian have been killed in violence linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to an AFP tally compiled from official sources.
The figures include combatants as well as civilians and, on the Israeli side, three members of the Arab minority.