Seven Palestinians killed as Israel raids West Bank’s Jenin
The Israeli military has ramped up its crackdown in the West Bank since the war in Gaza began, fearing a new front of fighting.
At least seven Palestinians were killed during an Israeli military raid in the West Bank city of Jenin on Friday, according to local authorities, amid a wave of violence in the West Bank as the Hamas-Israel war continues in the Gaza Strip.
In the early hours of Friday morning, Israeli forces entered the city of Jenin and encircled the house of Assaad Hashash, the official WAFA news agency reported, before military vehicles raided other locations in the city.
According to the agency, soldiers fired anti-tank rifle grenades and live ammunition at the house as Israeli forces used loudspeakers to demand those inside surrender.
Clashes between the Israeli troops and Palestinians in the city ensued that left seven dead and several others injured, some in serious condition, WAFA quoted a hospital official in Jenin as saying. It added that the son of Assaad, identified as Hemam, was killed during the attack on the house and Israeli forces seized his body.
WAFA reported that the following individuals were killed in the raid: 20-year-old Ahmed Bassem Al-Amouri, 23-year-old Qusay Amjad Hazouz, 25-year-old Fouad Iyad Ashqar, 30-year-old Yassin Al-Aridi, 54-year-old Muhammad Mahmoud Jabareen and brothers 23-year-old Hammam Hashash and 19-year-old Hareth Hashash.
Hamas said it mourned the individuals in a statement, and described the two Hashash men as "mujahid," indicating they were fighters, and Aridi as a "leader," though the group did not specify their affiliation.
The Israeli military said its forces surrounded a building housing “terrorists” during its operation in Jenin. It said in a post on X that heavy fire was exchanged and that military aircraft launched a drone strike on several armed militants.
A security official later told the Israeli Kan public broadcaster that four “terrorists” were killed during the operation.
The Israeli army has escalated its raids in West Bank towns and villages since Oct. 7 as part of efforts to prevent a new war from breaking out.
The West Bank has also seen a rising wave of settler attacks, including physical assaults and destruction of property. On Wednesday, Israeli police clashed with settlers during the dismantling of an illegal outpost, Reuters reported.
According to a Wednesday report by the UN's humanitarian affairs agency, OCHA, at least 539 Palestinians, including 131 children, have been killed in the West Bank, including east Jerusalem, between Oct. 7 and July 1. They include 522 killed by Israeli forces and 10 by Israeli settlers.
Over 5,420 Palestinians, including about 830 children, were injured during the same period, according to OCHA.
The Israeli raids and attacks were coupled with an uptick in violence by Palestinians against Israelis both inside the Palestinian territories and Israel.
The OCHA report documented the killing of 14 Israelis, including nine soldiers and five settlers, in the West Bank and east Jerusalem during that period. In Israel, eight Israelis were killed in attacks by Palestinians.
Tensions in the West Bank had been boiling even before the Gaza war.
In the past two years, several armed groups close to Hamas and the Islamic Jihad emerged across the West Bank, leading armed attacks against Israeli forces and settlers. They blame the Palestinian Authority and its security coordination with Israel for an Israeli crackdown inside the territory.
Israel had been arresting Palestinian fighters daily, while the PA also sought to tamp down the situation by making arrests.
According to the Palestinian Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, at least 9,520 Palestinians have been arrested by Israel in the West Bank since Oct. 7, including about 660 children.
