The deadliest in years, nine Palestinians have been killed during an Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank. The Israeli military stated that its troops went in to arrest Islamic Jihad militants who were planning “major attacks”.
The incursions are part of what the Israeli military describes as an anti-terrorism offensive that began last April. A woman aged 60 was reported among the dead, in the flashpoint town of Jenin.
According to a Palestinian-Dutch film-maker at the scene, Israel Defence Forces soldiers arrived at daybreak at several entrances of the Jenin refugee camp, a militant stronghold in the north of the Palestinian territory. Armed Palestinians shot at an Israeli armoured vehicle disguised as a commercial van, at which point the IDF returned fire and a fierce four-hour gun battle ensued, causing widespread damage.