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RAMALLAH: Israeli forces killed two Palestinians on Saturday during an arrest raid in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian health officials said, the latest incident in recent months around the flashpoint city of Jenin.
The Palestinian health ministry said two Palestinians were killed and 11 were wounded.
While there was no immediate comment from the Palestinian Authority, the Israeli military claimed security forces came under Palestinian fire during an operation to arrest a ‘wanted gunman from a militant group’.
“Dozens of Palestinians threw explosives and Molotov cocktails at the forces and fired at them. The forces fired at armed suspects. Hits were identified,” the Israeli military said on Twitter.
Over 70 shot dead in occupied West Bank since start of Israeli operation in March
The latest in a near-daily series of incidents around Jenin underlined once more the volatile security climate in the West Bank, as Israel heads towards elections on Nov 1.
“The more the occupation perpetrates its crimes, the tougher the resistance will be,” Islamic Jihad said in a statement.
More than 70 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since Israel launched its Operation Breakwater on March 31 in what it claimed response to a string of fatal Palestinian street attacks in Israel.
The surge in violence in the West Bank, where Palestinians have limited self-rule now, has been one of the worst such waves there in years.
US-brokered peace talks aimed at establishing a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, collapsed in 2014.
Israeli security officials have called on the PA to do more to rein in violence by gunmen. However the PA, increasingly unpopular among many in the West Bank, says its ability to exert its rule has been
systematically undermined by Israel’s incursions.
Published in Dawn, October 9th, 2022
