MEE Staff
Middle East Eye / April 10, 2023
Armed clashes erupt between Palestinian fighters and Israeli troops after raid in Jericho/Ariha.
Israeli troops killed a Palestinian boy in the occupied West Bank city of Jericho on Monday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.
Mohamed Faiz Balhan, 15, was shot dead just after 9 am local time when Israeli forces raided the Aqbat Jabr refugee camp near the city to make arrests.
At least three more people were wounded, two with live ammunition, according to the health ministry.
The Israeli military said earlier in a statement that its forces were operating in the camp without giving further details.
At least five people were arrested in the raid.
According to Israeli reports, the raid is unrelated to the manhunt for those behind the shooting in the Jordan Valley on Friday that left two Jewish settlers dead.
Palestinian fighters in the Aqbat Jabr camp responded to the raid by firing at Israeli soldiers, leading to some armed clashes.
The Aqbat Jabr camp has recently seen the emergence of a new armed faction named the “Aqbat Jabr Brigade”, with similar groups developing in other areas of the northern West Bank.
In another arrest raid in Nablus overnight, Israeli forces clashed with the Lions’ Den armed group.
Two Israeli soldiers were wounded in an exchange of gunfire and one Palestinian was arrested.
The raids come as tensions are high in Israel and in Palestinian cities following Israeli attacks on worshippers in Al-Aqsa Mosque and continued settler incursions into the site during Ramadan.
Rockets were launched from Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria towards Israel last week in an apparent response to Al-Aqsa attacks. At least two Israelis were wounded.
Israel responded by bombing all three fronts, leaving no casualties.
The number of shootings against Israeli targets in the West Bank has also risen, with two Jewish settlers killed and two soldiers wounded.
Palestinians in the West Bank were already facing one of the deadliest starts to a year in two decades even before the attacks on Al-Aqsa.
Israeli forces have killed at least 94 people, including 16 children, since the start of January – at a rate of nearly one fatality a day.
Palestinians have killed at least 16 Israelis, including four children, in the same period.
