Five people were killed, governor of Jericho Jihad Abu al-Assal
said, in the raid in Aqbat Jabr refugee camp in southern Jericho
and eight were arrested, according to a statement published by
official Palestinian news agency WAFA.
The Palestinian health ministry said three people had been
wounded, one critically, but gave no details on any dead.
Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of the Palestinian militant group
Hamas, appeared to confirm some fatalities in a statement
praising the gunmen as "martyred heroes".
The raid came during a period of heightened tensions that have
drawn fears of a further escalation in violence and prompted
calls for calm on both sides from the United States and
international bodies including the United Nations.
Israeli forces have carried out months of raids in the West Bank
following a spate of deadly attacks in Israel last year and
forces have been put on high alert after a Palestinian gunman
shot seven people dead near a synagogue on Jan. 27.
The military said Monday's raid was aimed at capturing a group
of militants belonging to Hamas, who it said were barricaded in
a house in the camp and were planning further operations
following an attempted shooting attack last month on Israelis
nearby.
On Jan. 28, it said two armed individuals appeared in a
restaurant in the Vered Yeriho settlement, where around 30
people were present, but fled before carrying out an attack
after a weapon malfunctioned.
Over the past week, it said security forces had conducted a
number of operations to try to find and arrest the suspects.
Ahead of discussions in Cairo with Egyptian officials hoping to
prevent further escalation, Haniyeh indicated the raid could
impact the talks.
(Additional reporting by James Mackenzie in Jerusalem and Nidal
al-Mughrabi in Gaza; Writing by James Mackenzie and Maayan
Lubell; Editing by Christopher Cushing, Raju Gopalakrishnan and
Ed Osmond)
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