Al-Jazeera / June 19, 2023
At least 45 people wounded and four dead, one of those killed is a 15-year-old boy.
Israeli forces have raided the Jenin refugee camp, killing five Palestinians and wounding at least 91.
The raid began early Monday morning, with Israeli soldiers storming the camp, firing live ammunition, stun grenades and toxic gas, according to WAFA news agency.
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One of the Palestinians killed is a child.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health has identified the victims as Ahmed Saqr (15), Khaled Darwish (21), Qassam Sariya (19), and Qassam Faisal Abu Sirriya (29).
The fifth victims has yet to be identified. Ten injured Palestinians are believed to be in critical condition.
Journalists on the ground told Al-Jazeera that several colleagues were shot at by Israeli forces during the raid, which took place close to the location where veteran Al-Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was shot and killed by an Israeli sniper in May 2022.
The Israeli military confirmed seven of its soliders were wounded during the attack, with the army saying on its radio channel that one soldier’s condition has deteriorated but is stable.
The Israeli military said the raid was to arrest two suspects and that Israeli soldiers came under fire which resulted in a “massive exchange of fire”.
One of the suspects they were after was “the son of an imprisoned Hamas leader”, Al-Jazeera’s Imran Khan said from West Jerusalem.
As the Israeli military vehicles were exiting the camp, the army’s statement said, “a military vehicle was hit by an explosive device, damaging the vehicle”, after which military helicopters shot towards the gunmen to help the forces exit.
Video footage verified by the Sanad agency showed an Israeli helicopter launching a rocket on the camp and surveillance aircraft hovering above.
Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s finance minister, has publicly called for “a large-scale operation across the [occupied] West Bank”, adding that “the time had come”.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) condemned the Israeli operation as a “heinous crime” while Hamas, the group ruling the Gaza Strip since 2007, declared its support for resistance in Jenin.
A group of PIJ and Hamas leaders were in Iran’s capital on Monday for high-level meetings when the raid took place. Tehran has yet to officially react to the events.
Mustafa Barghouti, general secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative, told Al-Jazeera the attack on Jenin is not an equal “gunfight between two sides”.
“It is a criminal war that the Israeli, very well-equipped army is conducting against Palestinian civilians in Jenin,” he said. “You are talking about an army that is using Apache helicopters, F-16 jet fighters, armoured vehicles, unlimited amount of gunpowder against the civilian population, basically in Jenin camp and Jenin city itself.”
SOURCE: AL-JAZEERA
