Israel-Palestine updates: 5 killed as Israeli troops raid Jenin

Daniel Levy, a former Israeli negotiator and president of the US/Middle East Project, said there has not yet been a formal convening of the Israeli cabinet.

The Israeli government is “looking for every opportunity to provoke the Palestinians”, Levy told Al Jazeera.

This round of Israeli raids into Palestinian towns and villages came at a “much more aggressive stance militarily, in terms of going into those Palestinian areas”, Levy said.

Whether far-right Israeli “extremists” are in or out of government, when “you have a permanent occupation, it does mean that Israel is going to continue to take more aggressive steps and there inevitably will be more Palestinian resistance”, he said.

Mohammed Kamanji, a lawyer and field researcher with the Independent Commission for Human Rights, said the latest attack was one of the largest Israeli military incursions into Jenin.

“The situation in Jenin, particularly the outskirts of the Jenin refugee camp – it has been reeling under Israeli military raids since the early hours of the morning,” Kamanji told Al Jazeera.

“The raid was accompanied by drones and Apache helicopters,” he said.

“In addition, Israeli occupation forces are perpetrating gross violations against not only the paramedics, but also the journalists … This is a large-scale raid, the largest in many years.”

Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim, reporting from Jenin, said people started gathering and laying their loved ones to rest soon after Israeli forces withdrew from the camp.

“We’re here in the cemetery in the Jenin refugee camp. There are mourners, people related to those who were killed today and buried here,” Ibrahim said.

“Relatives and friends are coming to pay their respects and to show solidarity with the families – to show sadness, to show anger,” she said.

“People are still coming in. Some are reciting some prayers; others are just soaking in the sadness and mourning of those Palestinians who were killed.”

These near-daily raids are becoming a “usual occurrence”, Ibrahim said, and have become more aggressive with Israeli military helicopters dropping bombs at the heavily populated camp.

“This cemetery – we’ve been coming here for the past year – there’s almost no space for more Palestinians to be buried here,” she said.

Hazem Qassem, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza, has condemned the Israeli raid in Jenin and praised the resistance.

“The resistance fighters from all factions were united on the battlefield. It shows that the resistance still exists in the West Bank cities,” Qassem told Al Jazeera.

“The threats by the occupation of the military operation will not stop the resistance in the West Bank,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Palestine Liberation Organisation is convening a meeting with the Palestinian Authority president and all of the factions to formulate a response to this latest attack.

The father of slain 15-year-old Ahmed Saqr remembers his son as a polite teenager.

“Anytime I asked him for something, he always said yes. He was decent, polite, respectful,” Youssef Saqr told Al Jazeera.

“His problem is when the Israeli army raided, he ran towards them. He wanted to die after his friend Omar was killed,” he added.

“The death of his friend was very painful for him.”

Ahmed was among five Palestinians who were killed by Israeli forces in Jenin.

Dozens in the besieged Gaza Strip have demonstrated against the Jenin raid and expressed their solidarity with the residents of the refugee camp.

The protest was organised by Hamas – the group that governs the enclave – and was attended by members of the Hamas political bureau.

Hamas member Suhail al-Hindi was quoted by Maan news agency as saying the resistance is “ready to respond to the occupation and will not allow it to invade Jenin”, adding that all factions of the resistance are “unified” in the face of the occupation.

Jordan’s foreign ministry has condemned Israel’s raid on Jenin, warning  of an ongoing “cycle of violence”.

Ministry spokesman Sinan Majali stressed the need to halt Israel’s “continuous incursions” into Palestinian cities, protect them from repeated attacks, and stop escalations that constitute a “violation of international humanitarian law and Israel’s obligations as an occupying power”.

He affirmed his country’s rejection of these attacks and the “unilateral measures that undermine efforts to reduce escalation”.

Majali further stressed the need for the international community to “act immediately and effectively” to stop Israeli aggression and to provide the Palestinian people in the occupied territories with protection.

Iran’s foreign ministry has condemned what it calls the “criminal” intensifying of Israeli attacks in occupied territories in recent months, including the latest raid in Jenin.

“Mass murder of Palestinians, including children, women and seniors, in addition to destroying their properties, is a clear example of organised crime and state terrorism,” spokesman Nasser Kanani said in a short statement, calling on international stakeholders to intervene and stop Israeli attacks.

The reaction comes after a delegation led by PIJ leader Ziyad al-Nakhaleh arrived in Tehran this week and held talks with top officials, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei while a Hamas delegation led by political chief Ismail Haniyeh landed in the Iranian capital on Sunday night.

Nibal Farsakh, media and information officer at the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), says four ambulances have been directly targeted by Israeli forces in Jenin.

“It was such a hard day for all Palestinians and for our medical teams who work on the ground,” Farsakh told Al Jazeera from Ramallah.

“Israeli occupation forces attacked four PRCS ambulances as they conducted their duty in Jenin,” she said.

They were “directly targeted with live ammunition, causing material damage to the structure and the glass of the ambulances themselves”, Farsakh added.

“One of the ambulances was also hit by a military vehicle before it was shot by the occupation forces,” she said, adding that it was “taken out of service due to the attack”.

According to Farsakh, medical teams were first denied access and eventually arrived late to treat those who were injured at the scene. Some were “in a very severe condition” and needed urgent medical assistance.

“Our teams could only deal with 43 injuries, … including 27 gunshot wounds and eight shrapnel wounds.”

At least five Palestinians have been killed, including a 15-year-old, when Israeli forces, backed by helicopters, targeted the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health identified four of those killed as Khaled Asasa, 21; Qassam Abu Sariya, 29; Qais Jabarin, 21; and Ahmed Saqr, 15. It added that at least five people were in serious condition after being wounded in a shootout between Israeli forces and armed groups.

The Israeli military said the raid was carried out to arrest two suspects and Israeli soldiers came under fire, which resulted in a “massive exchange of fire”.

Read more here.

Palestinian officials say a journalist, Hazem Nasser, has been wounded by Israeli gunfire during the raid in Jenin in the occupied West Bank. Nasser, who was rushed to hospital in an ambulance, said soldiers shot at him as he took cover.

Reporting from the occupied West Bank, Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim says Israeli military forces had withdrawn from the Jenin refugee camp.

The Israeli military remains stationed on the outskirts of the camp, she added.

At least 91 Palestinians have been injured in the Israeli military raid on Jenin in the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

Five others were also killed in the raid. The ministry identified four of the victims as Khaled Darwish, 21; Qassam Sariya, 19; Ahmed Saqr, 15; and Qassam Faisal Abu Sirriya, 29.

Reporting from the occupied West Bank, Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim says the Israeli military has begun to withdraw from Jenin.

She added that explosive devices were still being detonated.

At least five Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli raid on Jenin, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

The ministry identified four of the victims as Khaled Darwish, 21; Qassam Sariya, 19; Ahmed Saqr, 15; and Qassam Faisal Abu Sirriya, 29.

The fifth victim has yet to be identified.

The number of Palestinians injured also rose to at least 66.

At least 62 Palestinians have been injured in the Israeli military raid on Jenin in the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

At least four Palestinians were killed.

The ministry identified the victims as Khaled Darwish, 21; Qassam Sariya, 19; Ahmed Saqr, 15; and Qassam Faisal Abu Sirriya, 29.

Reporting from the occupied West Bank, Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim says people near Ibn Sina Hospital say they are being shot at by Israeli soldiers.

Ibn Sina Hospital is located on the outskirts of the Jenin refugee camp, which the Israeli army raided early in the morning, killing at least four people.

The Israeli army says on its radio channel that the condition of one of seven soldiers injured during the raid on Jenin in the occupied West Bank has deteriorated.

His condition is “dangerous but stable”, said Army Radio without mentioning his name.

Mustafa Barghouti, general secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative, tells Al Jazeera the attack on Jenin is not an equal “gunfight between two sides”.

“It is a criminal war that the Israeli, very well-equipped army is conducting against Palestinian civilians in Jenin. You are talking about an army that is using Apache helicopters, F-16 jet fighters, armoured vehicles, unlimited amount of gunpowder against the civilian population, basically in Jenin camp and Jenin city itself.”

“So far, I’ve mentioned four people were killed, including a 16-year-old child, as well as 45 people who were injured, 10 of whom could die because they have very serious injuries. The Palestinians are simply trying to defend themselves.”

“This attack on Jenin comes exactly after the Israeli government’s declaration of an expansion of settlements at an unprecedented level, allowing the settler [Bezalel] Smotrich [Israel’s finance minister] to licence as many settlements as he wants. Practically this was an announcement of the annexation of the West Bank and the total elimination of the whole idea of a two-state solution.”

A group of journalists and media workers who were surrounded by Israeli fire have been able to escape.

The journalists say the Israeli soldiers were firing directly at them, according to Al Jazeera Arabic’s Samir Abu Shamala in Jenin.