(Nablus) The Israeli army announced on Monday that it was striking targets in the city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank, as part of a “massive anti-terrorist operation” which, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, killed a resident and in injured another.
“A citizen was killed and another seriously injured in the shelling in the occupied zone [par Israël] of Jenin,” the health ministry said. The Israeli army said its forces were targeting “terrorist infrastructure” in the Jenin area.
The Israeli army said its forces struck a “joint operations center” which it said served as the command center of the “Jenin Brigade”, a local militant group.
“There are aerial bombardments and a ground invasion,” said Mahmoud al-Saadi, director of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society in Jenin.
“Several houses and sites have been bombed…Smoke is rising everywhere,” he added.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad said in a statement that “all options are open to strike the enemy [Israël] in response to his aggression in Jenin”.
In June, seven people were killed, including two 15-year-olds in an Israeli army raid on a refugee camp in Jenin.
During this raid, the army also fired missiles from a helicopter, which had not happened in the West Bank since 2002, during the second Palestinian intifada, according to a Palestinian official.
The city of Jenin, located in the northern West Bank, and the adjacent refugee camp are regularly the scene of clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinians.
The Israeli army regularly carries out raids in the region, which is theoretically under the control of the Palestinian Authority, chaired by Mahmoud Abbas.
The violence has increased in recent months and, since the beginning of the year, at least 177 Palestinians, 25 Israelis, a Ukrainian and an Italian have been killed, according to an AFP count established from an official source.