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30-08-2023
WASHINGTON/ JERUSALEM: Five more Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in a second day of raids in the occupied West Bank, with the UN calling for de-escalation.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said they were “five terrorists who had hidden inside a mosque” in Tulkarm, near the boundary with Israel.
Israel began what it said was a major counter-terrorism operation in the West Bank on Wednesday. There have been conflicting death tolls as the operation unfolded across multiple cities.
The IDF said yesterday that nine militants had been killed, five in Jenin and Tulkarm, and four in al-Faraa refugee camp. The Palestinian health ministry said on Thursday that 12 people had been killed in IDF attacks so far.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has called on Israel to immediately halt its operation, saying it was “fueling an already explosive situation”.
He urged Israeli forces to “exercise maximum restraint and use lethal force only when it is strictly unavoidable”.
The IDF said the five Palestinians were killed after “exchanges of fire” in Tulkarm.
It identified one of the fatalities as Mohammed Jaber also known as Abu Shujaa – who was reportedly the local leader of the Tulkarem Brigade, which is backed by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group.
The IDF said Jaber was linked to a number of attacks on Israelis, and was planning more, in Jenin, ambulances are stopped and checked by military jeeps parked around the government hospital as security forces continue their operation in the city’s refugee camp.
The camp is a base for armed groups, as well as a home to unarmed civilians, and has been the scene of many fierce gun battles in the past.
There’s little news coming out from the camp at the moment, with Israeli forces blocking access and Palestinian phone networks down.
Residents, medics and journalists have been trying to read the situation inside from the occasional explosions and bursts of gunfire heard since last night.
One person inside told media that it appears calm at the moment, and they can hear drones buzzing overhead.
It is the second day of what Israeli media say could be a days-long operation in the West Bank.
The Israeli military said it had made arrests and seized weapons.
Homes and infrastructure were damaged in the attacks, Palestinians said.
It is the largest such action in the West Bank since the days of the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising, two decades ago.
At least 10 Palestinians have been killed in a major operation by Israeli forces in the north of the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry says.
Israeli security forces said they had begun “a counterterrorism operation” in Jenin and Tulkarm overnight and they had so far killed “five armed terrorists from the air and ground”.
It also said another four were killed in an air strike during a simultaneous operation in al-Faraa refugee camp near Tubas. A further death was reported west of Jenin.
Local journalists said they had not seen anything of this scope and scale in the West Bank since the days of the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising, two decades ago.
There has been a spike in violence in the West Bank since Hamas’s deadly attack on Israel on 7 October and the ensuing war in Gaza.
Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed as Israeli forces have intensified their raids, saying they are trying to stem deadly Palestinian attacks on Israelis in the West Bank and Israel. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
