Three Palestinians killed in Israeli raid in West Bank
Palestinian officials said Israeli troops killed three Palestinians in a raid in the West Bank on Thursday, with the Israeli army saying it had “eliminated two wanted suspects”. The raid took place in Qabatiyah in the governorate of Jenin, in the north of the Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967, said the governor of Jenin, Kamal Abou Al-Roub, reporting “two fallen martyrs” during the operation.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said a third Palestinian was killed in the same raid. The Palestinian Authority’s health ministry based in Ramallah identified him as Qaïs Zakarneh, 21.
The army also carried out an operation in the city of Jenin which is part of the governorate of the same name, according to an Agence France-Presse correspondent on site. The operation in the town is part of the raid carried out in Qabatiyah, the army stressed.
“During the anti-terrorist operation, Israeli soldiers surrounded a building where two wanted suspects were located”said an army statement. “The soldiers exchanged fire with the suspects and fired rockets towards the structure. The two suspects were eliminated and weapons were found in their possession”, according to the same source. An Israeli soldier was slightly injured.
The city and camp of Jenin, one of the strongholds of the Palestinian armed factions, are regularly the target of Israeli raids.
The West Bank has experienced an outbreak of violence for two years, exacerbated by the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, which was triggered by an unprecedented attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement against Israel on October 7. Since that date, at least 545 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli soldiers or settlers, according to Palestinian authorities, and at least 14 Israelis have been killed there in Palestinian attacks or attacks, according to official Israeli figures.