Israel’s deadly onslaught on West Bank shifts into high gear

The Israeli occupation forces have killed two young Palestinian men and shot a child in a violent raid on the West Bank city of Jenin and its refugee camp as the regime’s onslaught drags on in the northern area for the past consecutive days.

Israeli soldiers killed Mohammad Amin Talal Abdullah, 19, and Amjad Mustafa Ibrahim Saleh, 23, in the Jenin refugee camp on Saturday afternoon, according to a statement by the Palestinian Health Ministry.

The spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS), Ahmad Jibril, said earlier in the day that the occupation forces had prevented paramedics from evacuating the bodies of the two slain men from the camp.

Local media also reported that the Israeli soldiers had confiscated the bodies of the two young Palestinians and taken them to an unknown location.

The Israeli forces had shot a child in the head with live ammunition in Jenin and the child was later transported to the hospital for treatment, PRCS said.

Reports indicate that Israeli forces have launched a large offensive across the northern occupied West Bank over the past few days, attacking three cities - Jenin, Tulkarm, and Tubas - from land and air and killing more than 20 Palestinians.

The Israeli occupation forces have maintained a tight siege on Jenin city and its camp, sending in additional reinforcements, including bulldozers and front-end loaders.

Media sources said the forces detained several citizens in the al-Damj neighborhood of the Jenin refugee camp, using them as human shields, amid the intense fire of live ammunition.

Sources added that the al-Damj neighborhood has been subjected to a total siege and bulldozers have destroyed roads and vital infrastructure.

In the eastern neighborhood of the city, Israeli forces conducted a large-scale search campaign, invading and searching many citizens’ homes, while bulldozers continued to destroy roads and parts of citizens’ homes.

Bashir Matahin, the director of public relations and media in Jenin Municipality, was quoted by the official Palestinian news agency WAFA as saying that the occupation forces have destroyed 70% of the city’s streets.

Matahin added that the bulldozers destroyed water and sewage networks, in addition to communication and electricity networks.

He also said that occupation forces burned several commercial stalls at the central vegetable market in the city, causing severe damage.

Israeli commander killed during West Bank escalation

An Israeli military commander is killed during the regime’s now-four-day-old deadly escalation across the occupied West Bank.

On Saturday evening, the Israeli soldiers injured an unspecified number of Palestinians in a violent raid and armed settlers also attacked cars near the city of al-Khalil (Hebron) in southern West Bank.

Media sources said several Israeli military jeeps invaded the al-Arroub refugee camp north of al-Khalil and fired rubber-coated steel bullets, gas bombs, and concussion grenades, causing scores of Palestinians to suffer the effects of tear gas inhalation.

In Halhoul town north of al-Khalil, a group of Israeli settlers from the Karmie Tzur illegal colony attacked many cars and caused damage.

Elsewhere in the occupied West Bank, Israeli soldiers on Saturday night shot a Palestinian teenager with a live round in the back in the Askar refugee camp, east of Nablus.

The PRCS reported that its crews dealt with a 17-year-old who was shot in the back, with the medics treating the wounded before transferring him to a hospital in Nablus.

The teenager was shot after many Israeli military vehicles, accompanied by an armored bulldozer, invaded the refugee camp and destroyed infrastructure, leading to protests.

The latest fatalities brought the tally of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in the Jenin, Tulkarm, and Tubas governorates since the dawn of Wednesday to 22.

The heightened tensions in the occupied West Bank come as the Israeli regime has since October last year been conducting a barbaric onslaught on the besieged Gaza Strip, claiming the lives of more than 40,000 people, most of them women and children.

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