On Thursday, the Israeli army continued its attack on Jenin, a city known as the center of resistance forces in the Israeli offensive in the West Bank, killing two men when they surrounded those wanted to kill three Israelis.
The men, identified on Thursday as Mohamad Nazzal and Qutayba Shalabi, are members of the terrorist group, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and carried out a shooting incident in the West Bank village of Al-Funduq earlier this month, targeting Israeli buses and vehicles. Israeli soldiers said.
Since the ceasefire in Gaza began this week, Israel has turned its attention to Jenin, in what Israeli officials have called the military’s top priority. It is the latest in a series of manhunts by the army that have paved the roads and left many Gazans hiding in their homes out of fear. At least 10 people have been killed during this week’s raids, while more than 40 others were injured, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said on Wednesday.
The official commission for Palestinian prisoners said that a large number of people have been arrested.
The Israeli army in its statement on Thursday said the two militants were killed during a shootout in Burqin village, west of Jenin, the day before. An Israeli soldier was wounded.
Hamas-run al-Aqsa TV released photos of the two men and said they were members of its armed wing. At the same time, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad acknowledged the death of two men it claimed carried out the attack. Said Mr. Nazzal, 25, was the leader of its Jenin army.
In a statement on Telegram, a social messaging app, it said he died “after a clash with enemy forces who had surrounded him.” It was not clear whether Mr. Nazzal was a member of both groups.
The campaign comes amid heightened unrest in the West Bank, as militants have grown in strength and violence against Palestinians has escalated.
In this attack on June 6, Palestinian gunmen opened fire on a bus and people’s cars. Israeli settlers attacked the town this week and other West Bank towns, burning cars and buildings, according to Palestinian officials and the Israeli military.
During its attacks in recent years, Israeli bulldozers have torn up roads and water pipes, looking for explosives planted by terrorists.
Mohammad Jarrar, the mayor of Jenin, said that thousands have fled the area known as the Jenin camp, which is the focus of the Israeli operation. Those who remained were cut off from electricity and running water, he said, creating a “humanitarian crisis.”
“Every time we rebuild, we destroy the next attack,” he said.
The city had opened some public shelters to accommodate people displaced by the Israeli army, but was struggling to provide them with enough food and supplies, Mr. Jarrar.
The Israeli military has set up checkpoints near Jenin’s main government hospital, checking all vehicles entering and leaving the medical facility, said Wissam Bakr, the hospital’s director. The soldiers allowed the ambulances to pass immediately after the examination, said Dr. Bakr, but from time to time the soldiers raised them, causing delays.
The Israeli operation comes after security forces and the Palestinian Authority, which controls parts of the West Bank under Israeli rule, carried out their own operation in Jenin after largely handing over security there to Israeli forces.
Israel’s latest campaign appears to be the most significant since a 10-day raid in the West Bank in August and September that killed 39 people, most of them in Jenin, according to Palestinian officials. They attacked and destroyed houses, shops and roads.
The United Nations has condemned the violence in the West Bank, and the highest court in the world, the International Court of Justice, issued an advisory opinion this summer saying that Israel’s invasion of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and its settlements there, violate international law. the law. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel criticized the idea and said that these settlements are legal.
Jenin is a center of Palestinian resistance in the West Bank – against both Israeli and Palestinian Authority attacks – and many young men there have joined Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other armed groups.
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