Published: 20 June 2023
Last updated: 5 March 2024
The Israeli military has used combat helicopters in the occupied West Bank for the first time in years, as an arrest operation in Jenin encountered unexpectedly fierce Palestinian resistance.
The IDF said it had conducted a raid to 'apprehend two wanted suspects' in the city of Jenin. In a rare move, they used helicopters to open fire at what they described as armed gunmen. The operation errupted into heavy fighting with Palestinian militants detonating a roadside bomb next to an Israeli military vehicle.
Five Palestinians were killed, including a 15-year-old boy, and 91 injured, including 23 severely or critically, according to Palestinian health officials. One of those was a 15-year-old girl who Palestinian witnesses quoted by Israel’s Haaretz website, said was shot inside her house. A Palestinian journalist, Hazem Nasser, a freelance cameraman wearing press gear, was wounded, according to the Foreign Press Association.
The dead Palestinians were identified as Ahmed Saqr, 15, Qassam Abu Saraya, 29 who was claimed as a fighter by Islamic Jihad, Khaled Asasa, 21 and Qais Jabareen, 21.
Seven Israeli soldiers and militarised border police sustained light to moderate injuries, according to an army spokesperson.
Following the Jenin clashes, two Israeli soldiers were lightly wounded in a car ramming attack on Monday evening at a West Bank checkpoint.
According to the IDF, Palestinians ran over one soldier who was manning the checkpoint near the Shaked settlement in the northern West Bank. The second soldier was lightly wounded by shrapnel. The soldiers returned fire.
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Israeli forces launch helicopter raid on Jenin in occupied West Bank (Guardian)
Two Israeli Soldiers Wounded in Ramming Attack in West Bank, Palestinian Assailants Shot (Haaretz)
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Photo: Palestinians take cover during fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants outside of a hospital in the West Bank city of Jenin on Monday (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
