Israeli forces raid Jenin as violence rises in West Bank – Israel-Hamas war video
Hamas says three fighters have died, while the Israeli military says it has killed at least five as tensions rise
Fri Nov 17, 2023 12.59 GMT
Israeli security forces have carried out a major raid in the city of Jenin, destroying streets and killing three to five Hamas militants. This is the latest case of increasing violence in the occupied West Bank.
Hamas said three of its fighters died in the overnight raid, which began late Thursday evening and lasted about eight hours. Israeli military officials said their forces killed at least five people.
The raid highlighted high tensions in the West Bank since Hamas’ attacks on southern Israel last month, which led to a massive Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip.
The rising death toll in the West Bank has heightened fears that the territory captured by Israel in the 1967 war could spiral out of control in the wake of the conflict in Gaza.
Hamas’s al-Quds Brigades in Jenin said in a statement on Friday that it had attacked Israeli forces for several hours, unleashing a “torrent of fire” and setting ambushes with explosives.
An Israeli military spokesman said an armed “terror cell that fired on Israeli security forces” was attacked by an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) aircraft.
“Other terrorists who fired and hurled explosive devices at the security forces were neutralized,” the spokesman said.
The Israeli military said some Hamas fighters fled in vehicles and ambulances toward Ibn Sina Hospital in Jenin, and that troops stopped one of the vehicles at the hospital’s entrance. Video footage was released of soldiers searching a car at the hospital and finding M-16 rifles and ammunition.
Palestinian health authorities said some hospital staff were ordered to leave. A confirmed video shows them leaving the building with their hands raised. The Palestinian Red Crescent accused the IDF of arresting and searching rescue workers.
Last week, Israeli troops invaded Jenin and fought for hours with gunmen in a battle that left 14 people dead, one of the worst clashes in the occupied West Bank in months.
At least 191 Palestinians have been killed and up to 2,000 arrested in the West Bank since Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7 as part of a crackdown. Israeli officials say the arrests have thwarted several significant attacks.
Last month’s Hamas attacks left 1,200 people dead, mostly civilians, and more than 240 taken hostage. Palestinian civilians have borne the brunt of the weeks-long Israeli military campaign in the Gaza Strip.
According to health authorities in the Gaza Strip, an Israeli bombardment and ground invasion have killed at least 11,500 people – more than 4,700 of them children.
A senior Israeli military officer told the Guardian last week that the West Bank was a “broad front” where the Israeli army already had significant forces deployed against Hamas and would not hesitate to step up its efforts if necessary.
Israeli security forces also shot and killed an attacker near Hebron after he opened fire on soldiers on Friday morning. On Thursday, an Israeli soldier was killed at a checkpoint on Route 60 in the West Bank.
Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s national security minister, said Israel must deal with Hamas in the West Bank “just like we do with Gaza.”
Ben-Gvir, the leader of the far-right Jewish Power party, also said that the Palestinian Authority “holds similar views to Hamas and its leaders identify with Hamas’ massacre” and should be treated in the same way.
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