Jerusalem CNN –
An Israeli raid on one of the most tense cities in the occupied West Bank erupted in a massive firefight on Monday, killing at least four Palestinians and wounding dozens while the Israeli military struggled to rescue troops under heavy fire.
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the four dead were teenagers. At least 45 people were injured in the clashes, the ministry said. According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), seven Israeli soldiers were injured and successfully evacuated.
Israeli Air Force helicopter gunships opened fire from the skies over Jenin to help Israeli troops withdraw from the city, the IDF said.
Eight hours after the attempted covert operation to apprehend two suspects began, some Israeli soldiers were still awaiting a release, which the IDF said would be “very harsh”.
IDF international spokesman Lt. Col. Richard Hecht said the soldiers “were not trapped” and “moved to other protected vehicles involved in the recovery.”
Noting that at least five vehicles were stuck, he added: “It’s not looking good. It will take a few hours. It’s going to be pretty tough.”
It was the first time since the Second Intifada that Israeli helicopters opened fire while evacuating wounded troops, Israel Army Radio reported. The Second Intifada – a major Palestinian uprising – ended in 2005.
The Jenin Brigade, a local militant group, said its fighters fired on an Israeli helicopter, forcing it to retreat, and managed to cripple Israeli military vehicles with gunfire and ambushes.
The firefight was still ongoing as of 12:30 p.m. local time (5:30 a.m. ET), Hecht said, seven and a half hours after Palestinian sources in Jenin reported it.
He said the army was “aware of the large number of Palestinians hit” and would have more details in the coming hours.
The Palestinians killed included three people in their 20s: Khalid Azam Asa’asa, 21, Qasam Faisal Abu Seriya, 29, Qais Majdi Adel Jabareen, 21, and the teenager Ahmed Youssef Saqer, who was 15, the Palestinian Health Ministry said .
A Palestinian girl also sustained a serious head injury, the ministry added.
Of the seven wounded Israeli soldiers, two are IDF soldiers and five are Israeli Border Police officers. Three were moderately injured and four slightly injured.
In a statement, Sheba Medical Center said one of the injured, in moderate condition, was “being treated in an emergency room by emergency medical center medical teams.”
A covert unit of the Israel Border Police called Yamas was also involved in the Israeli raid, Israel Police said on Monday.
The IDF and border police said there was a massive exchange of fire during the arrest.
They were attacked with gunfire and explosive devices and responded with live fire, hitting people, the IDF said.
Hecht, the IDF spokesman, said a Panther command and liaison vehicle was hit by a “fairly advanced” attack. improvised explosive device.
“The scale of the IED is an issue. We’re still checking it out,” he said. “It’s quite unusual and dramatic. It will have an impact on how we do business.”
He said the troops had also been subjected to a “massive amount of gunfire” in addition to the demolition charges, but could not clarify exactly how the seven injured forces were hit, whether by the IED or other fire.
An Apache helicopter was deployed to fire on open areas to provide cover while some of the rescue operations were underway, Hecht said, adding that such a tactic had “not been used in a long time”.
Videos from Jenin circulated on social media showed Israeli military vehicles coming under fire both on the ground and in the air.
One showed a military truck driving down the street with almost constant banging of gunfire before a plume of smoke billowed around it. Another showed several trucks parked across a road, their windshields damaged by bullets.
And a third showed a heavily armored Israeli truck trying to tow a second with a rope or cable. The lead vehicle revs its engine and appears to be attempting to drag the other vehicle around a parked car on the street. It then reverses, pushing the following vehicle backwards before rolling forward again with the second truck in tow. Gunshots are heard as the two vehicles drive up the street.
Video posted by Army Radio on Twitter showed a helicopter firing four projectiles while white smoke billowed out from behind them as they passed the helicopter. Another video circulating on social media appeared to show the same helicopter with the sound of gunfire in the background.