[1/2]People inspect the damage after an Israeli strike hit a compound beneath a mosque, which the Israeli military said was used by militants to organize attacks, in Jenin refugee camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, October 22, 2023. Portal/Mohammad Ateeq Acquire license rights
RAMALLAH, West Bank, Oct 22 (Portal) – Israeli aircraft early on Sunday struck a compound beneath a mosque in the occupied West Bank that the military said was used by militants to organize attacks, and Palestinian medics said at least one person was was killed .
The Israeli airstrike is at least the second in recent days to hit the West Bank, where violence has increased since Hamas gunmen from Gaza went on a deadly rampage in Israel on October 7.
Israel said the site beneath the Al-Ansar mosque in Jenin refugee camp belongs to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants responsible for attacks in recent months.
“Recently, information was received indicating that the terrorists who were neutralized were organizing an imminent terrorist attack,” the military said in a statement.
The military released images purporting to show an entrance to a bunker beneath the mosque. A diagram was also released showing where militants had stored weapons there.
The Jenin refugee camp, a stronghold of Palestinian militants, was the subject of a major Israeli military operation earlier this year.
Footage on social media that appeared to show the site of the airstrike showed a gaping hole in one of the mosque’s exterior walls surrounded by rubble. Several dozen Palestinians survey the damage as ambulance sirens wail in the background.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Emergency Service said at least one Palestinian was killed and three others were injured. It was previously reported that two people had been killed.
Residents of the camp said they received warnings from the Israeli military to stay away from the militants because of an impending break-in into the camp. They said the military did not give a date.
At least 84 Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed in clashes with Israeli forces since the Oct. 7 Hamas rampage that prompted two weeks of deadly Israeli bombings of the Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials said.
On Thursday, the Israeli military said it had raided a refugee camp near downtown Tulkarm and carried out an airstrike. According to the military, the raid aimed, among other things, to arrest suspects and confiscate weapons. Palestinians said at least 12 were killed.
Reporting by Ali Sawafta and Rami Ayyub; Edited by Daniel Wallis and Chizu Nomiyama
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