Israeli troops kill nine in Jenin clash with Palestinian gunmen, medics
say
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[January 26, 2023]
By Ali Sawafta
JENIN, West Bank (Reuters) -Israeli commandos killed nine Palestinians,
including an elderly woman, and wounded 12 others during clashes with
gunmen on Thursday in a flashpoint town in the occupied West Bank,
witnesses and medics said.
The Israeli military said it sent special forces into Jenin to detain
members of the Islamic Jihad armed group suspected of having carried out
and planning "multiple major terror attacks", shooting several of them
after they opened fire.
Islamic Jihad confirmed battling the Israeli forces as they carried out
the unusually deep raid into Jenin's refugee camp, a militant bastion.
Another Islamist group, Hamas, said its men also took part in the
fighting.
The death toll - the highest in Jenin in years - drew a warning from
Islamic Jihad that its truce with Israel, called after a brief exchange
of fire across the Gaza Strip border last year, could be in danger.
"We contacted the mediators and told them that what is happening in
Jenin is an Israeli war against the Palestinian people and that it
doesn’t stop at Jenin. If it continues it might not be limited to Jenin,"
an Islamic Jihad official said.
At the entrances to the camp's cramped alleyways, local youths threw
rocks at army vehicles. Gunfire echoed as well as occasional explosions
as militants set off improvised bombs.
As the troops withdrew and the smoke and tear gas cleared, civilians who
had kept away streamed into the camp to check on casualties. A
two-storey building that had been the focus of the fighting was left
with heavy damage.
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Palestinians inspect the damage
following an Israeli raid in Jenin in the Israeli-occupied West Bank
January 26, 2023. REUTERS/Raneen Sawafta
There were no Israeli casualties. At least one Palestinian was
detained during the raid, the military statement said.
Jenin is an area of the northern West Bank where Israel has
intensified raids over the past year after local men carried out
street attacks in its cities. The violence has further clouded
long-stalled U.S.-sponsored talks on Palestinians statehood.
The stalemate has also rallied Palestinian support for Hamas and
Islamic Jihad, which refuse coexistence with Israel - where the new
hard-right government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu includes
members opposed to Palestinian statehood.
The Palestinian health ministry described the nine fatalities in
Jenin as an elderly woman and eight men. There were no further
details immediately available on their identities. According the
ministry, at least 29 Palestinians, including gunmen and civilians,
have been killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank since Jan. 1.
(Writing by Dan Williams and Nidal al-Mughrabi; Editing by Frank
Jack Daniel and Christina Fincher)
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