Two Palestinians were killed and 12 others injured on Saturday during a raid by Israeli soldiers on a refugee camp in the northern West Bank city of Jenin, Palestinian medics and eyewitnesses said.
A man named Mahmoud Al-Soous died after being shot by Israeli soldiers in the neck, and another man was shot dead in the head. The injured, including two in serious condition, have been sent to hospitals for urgent treatment, said the Palestinian Ministry of Health in a statement.
Palestinian eyewitnesses said that an Israeli army force stormed the refugee camp and surrounded a house of a Palestinian wanted by Israel for being involved in attacks against Israel. Fierce clashes then broke out between the Israeli soldiers and Palestinian gunmen, they said.
An Israeli army spokesman said in a statement that when the Israeli troops stormed the refugee camp to arrest a wanted Palestinian member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement, gunmen opened fire at the soldiers.
The Israeli army stormed homes of Palestinians every day on purpose, Governor of Jenin Kamal Abu Robb told Xinhua, condemning the Israeli army raid on the refugee camp.
“The Israeli occupation is trying to uproot the armed resistance in Jenin, but it will not succeed in doing so,” said Hazem Qassem, spokesman of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), in a statement.
Tension in the West Bank has been mounting since March after the Israeli army intensified its military actions and operations against Palestinian militants and activists.
Since January, 111 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, including women and children, said the Palestinian health ministry.
