Army confirms troops operating in West Bank refugee camp; footage shows Palestinians shooting down small military drone; fatalities include elderly woman, PA says
Emanuel FabianToday, 9:12 am
Four Palestinians were killed and several were wounded during clashes between Israeli troops and gunmen in the northern West Bank city of Jenin on Thursday morning, health officials said.
In a brief statement, the Israel Defense Forces said it was operating in the Jenin refugee camp. It said it would provide further details later.
The Kan public broadcaster said the troops sought to arrest a senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terror group member who was allegedly preparing an imminent major terror attack.
A local wing of the PIJ said its members had opened fire on the Israeli troops and detonated explosive devices in the area.
The Palestinian Authority Health Ministry in a statement said at least four Palestinians were killed, with several more seriously wounded.
The fatalities included an elderly woman, the ministry said.
One of the slain men was named as 24-year-old Saeb Essam Mahmoud Azriqi.
Palestinian media reports estimated that the toll would rise further.
شاهد| تواصل الاشتباكات بين المقاومين وقوات الاحتلال في مخيم جنين. pic.twitter.com/PmUyv4KqPv
— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) January 26, 2023
Explosions and gunfire could be heard in footage published by Palestinian media outlets.
Another clip purported to show Palestinian gunmen shooting down a small IDF surveillance drone.
شاهد| مقاومون يسقطون طائرة تصوير “درون” تابعة لقوات الاحتلال كانت تحلق في مخيم جنين. pic.twitter.com/QcgOQHHEgN
— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) January 26, 2023
Tensions have recently soared in the West Bank as the IDF presses on with an anti-terror offensive mostly focused on the northern West Bank to deal with a series of attacks that have left 31 people in Israel dead in 2022.
Jenin is widely seen as a hotbed of terrorist activity, and has been the focus of many of the raids.
The IDF’s operation has netted more than 2,500 arrests in near-nightly raids. It also left 171 Palestinians dead in 2022, and another 21 since the beginning of the year, many of them while carrying out attacks or during clashes with security forces, though some were uninvolved civilians.
Content retrieved from: https://www.timesofisrael.com/palestinian-killed-in-clashes-between-gunmen-and-idf-soldiers-in-jenin/.