(Jenin) Three Palestinians were killed and others arrested during an Israeli military operation early Wednesday in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, the Palestinian Health Ministry and the Israeli army said.
Three young men were killed and “four injured” during this operation involving Israeli aircraft, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said in a statement.
Ayman Youssef, 19, died after being hit “by a bullet” in the chest, according to the statement, which added that Mohammed al-Sabti, also 19, and Hamza Arawi, whose age was not was specified, were killed “in a bombing”.
According to residents of Jenin and its refugee camp, the army arrived shortly after midnight and carried out searches in houses where clashes then broke out between young Palestinians and Israeli soldiers.
The Israeli army confirmed that a “sniper” had killed “a terrorist”, specifying that the man had thrown explosive devices at Israeli forces. “Two terrorists were eliminated” by airstrikes, she added.
“Explosives buried on roads” were discovered, according to the army, which specifies that a “wanted person was arrested” in the village of Qarawat Bani Hassan, near Jenin, where “weapons were confiscated “.
In addition, the army said it had “destroyed a vehicle in which explosive charges had been placed” and had arrested two individuals.
Witnesses told AFP that the Israeli army bulldozed roads in the refugee camp and the town of Jenin.
After midnight, the Palestinian Red Crescent also announced that three people had been injured by Israeli fire in the town of Qabatiya, neighboring Jenin.
In recent months, the Israeli army has carried out several operations in and around Jenin, as well as in the Nour-Shams camp, near Tulkarem, also in the northern West Bank.
These operations target “terrorist cells which are preparing attacks against Israeli targets”, according to the army.
More than 450 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli army or by Israeli settlers since the start of the war on October 7 between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, according to a count by the Palestinian Ministry of Health, which also reports 4500 injured.