JENIN, Palestinian Territories, Oct 8 — Two Palestinians were shot dead in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin on Saturday, the Palestinian health ministry said, as Israeli troops carried out an arrest operation.
In a statement, the ministry announced the killing of “two citizens by occupation (Israeli) bullets in Jenin”, a flashpoint in the northern West Bank.
Eleven others were wounded, three of them seriously, the ministry added.
The Israeli military said troops entered the city to detain a 25-year-old Palestinian it said is a member of the Islamic Jihad militant group and suspected of shooting at troops in the area.
“During the activity, dozens of Palestinians hurled explosive devices and Molotov cocktails at IDF (Israeli army) soldiers and shots were fired at them. The soldiers responded with live fire towards the armed suspects,” an army statement said.
The official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported Israeli forces fired directly at journalists during the raid.
It comes after two reporters were wounded on Wednesday while covering a military operation witnessed by an AFP journalist near the West Bank city of Nablus, in which one Palestinian was killed.
Palestinian militant group Hamas said the Jenin raid demonstrated the Israeli military’s weakness against “the resistance in the West Bank”.
“So it resorts to mobilising military machines and helicopters to arrest one person,” Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, said in a statement.
Saturday’s violence in Jenin comes a day after two other Palestinians, one a 14-year-old boy, were shot dead by Israeli forces, according to the health ministry.
The child was killed in Qalqilya, in the northern West Bank, while the second Palestinian was killed near the city of Ramallah.
The Israeli military said its soldiers fired at a suspect who threw Molotov cocktails at troops in Qalqilya and responded to a “violent riot” outside Ramallah.
The Palestinian foreign ministry described the deaths on Friday as “executions”.
The army has launched frequent and often deadly raids in Jenin and other parts of the West Bank in recent months, often targeting Palestinian militants.
Dozens of Palestinians have been killed, including fighters and civilians.
Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was shot dead in May while covering an Israeli raid in Jenin. — AFP
