Israeli Raids Intensify across West Bank As Death Toll in Jenin Rises to 40
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Israeli military raids and settler violence surged across the occupied West Bank on Thursday, with the Palestinian death toll in Jenin rising to 40 following the killing of a 14-year-old boy, local sources and medical officials said.
On the 94th day of Israel’s large-scale military operation in the northern West Bank, raids by Israeli forces continued in several areas, according to Palestinian media reports.
Also Israeli settlers, under army protection, attacked Palestinian properties in various towns, including the village of Bardala in the northern Jordan Valley, where five Palestinians were injured by gunfire, Palestinian sources reported.
Local residents told Al Jazeera that settlers set fire to a tent and a sheep barn in Bardala and blocked fire trucks from reaching the scene.
In a separate incident, Israeli forces halted an ambulance carrying wounded Palestinians at the Hamra checkpoint, preventing it from reaching a hospital, the reports added.
Eyewitnesses said Israeli settlers gathered at road junctions near Bardala and, with support from the military and police, attacked Palestinian vehicles, torched agricultural lands and set fire to a house in the village.
In Tubas province, the Palestinian Red Crescent reported that two Palestinians were shot and wounded during an Israeli raid early Thursday.
Elsewhere in the south of the West Bank, Israeli special forces stormed the Dheisheh refugee camp near Bethlehem and detained several Palestinians, using live ammunition, stun grenades, and tear gas, while setting up new checkpoints to block Palestinian movement.
In another incident, multiple Palestinians were injured during a raid by Israeli forces and settlers on the town of Sinjil, north of Ramallah.
Local sources said settlers, backed by Israeli troops, set fire to five homes, several vehicles, and farmland in the town.
Meanwhile, Israeli special forces raided Balata refugee camp east of Nablus early morning, prompting fierce clashes with Palestinian fighters.
According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, two young men were wounded in the exchange.
Separately, a 14-year-old boy was shot and killed by Israeli forces in the town of Al-Yamoun, west of Jenin, late Wednesday night, the Palestinian Red Crescent said.
Medical sources identified the boy as Mahmoud Misqal Abu Al-Hayja, and said he died from live gunshot wounds to his thigh and abdomen.
With his death, the number of Palestinians killed in Jenin province since the beginning of the Israeli offensive more than three months ago has reached 40.
Local sources in Jenin said Israeli forces continue to block the western entrance to the New Camp with an iron gate and have been systematically demolishing homes and infrastructure in the city and the refugee camp.
