Israel: Soldiers shoot dead three Palestinians in Jenin dawn raid
Israeli forces killed three Palestinians during an early morning raid in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin on Thursday, the Palestinian health ministry said.
The three killed were identified as Atta Shalabi, 46, Sidqi Zakarneh, 29, and Tariq Damej, 29.
Israel’s military said that its troops had entered the occupied West Bank city to detain people “suspected of involvement in terrorist activity”.
"The soldiers operated while being targeted with direct fire and responded with live fire," the army said in a statement.
Witnesses said a large Israeli force raided the city and nearby refugee camp, provoking confrontations with local Palestinian residents. The three men were shot dead at point blank range.
The Palestinian health ministry said three people were killed “by bullets from the Israeli occupation during its aggression in Jenin at dawn today”.
Israeli forces fired at an ambulance attempting to reach the men, according to Palestinian media.
Israeli live fire also wounded 10 other Palestinians, who were taken to hospital for treatment, Wafa news agency reported.
A funeral procession was held on Thursday, with scores of residents marching and carrying the bodies of the three men through the streets of Jenin.
Nightly Israeli raids
The Israeli army said it carried out multiple operations across the occupied West Bank overnight on Thursday, including in Bethlehem and Ramallah, to arrest "wanted suspects".
Israeli authorities have in recent months been conducting raid-and-arrest operations across the West Bank on a near-nightly basis, often leading to the wounding or killing of Palestinians.
Thursday’s deaths come amid a spike in Israeli violence against Palestinians in the West Bank this year and a resurgence of Palestinian armed resistance.
The latest killings bring the death toll in the occupied Palestinian territories this year to at least 216 Palestinians, of whom 164 were killed in the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem, making it the deadliest year on record for Palestinians since 2005.
Israel's "shoot-to-kill policy" has been widely criticised as the number of Palestinian deaths at the hands of its forces increases.
A further 49 Palestinians were killed during an Israeli bombardment of Gaza in August.
Meanwhile, 29 Israelis, including soldiers, have been killed by Palestinians in the same period, the highest number since 2008.
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