The Israeli military said that the raid was to arrest two suspects but Israeli soldiers came under fire which resulted in a ‘massive exchange of fire’….reports Asian Lite News
The Israeli forces raided the Jenin refugee camp on Monday morning and killed four Palestinians and injured at least 45 people, media reported.
Following the raid, the Israeli soldiers stormed the camp, and fired live ammunition, stun grenades and toxic gas, Al Jazeera reported citing Wafa News Agency. The Israeli military said that the raid was to arrest two suspects but Israeli soldiers came under fire which resulted in a ‘massive exchange of fire’. Adding to that, one of the suspects they were looking for was ‘the son of an imprisoned Hamas leader’, Al Jazeera’s Imran Khan said from West Jerusalam.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health has identified the victims of the Israeli raid. One of the Palestinians killed is 15-year-old Ahmed Saqr. The other victims are Qais Jabarin, 21, Khaled Azzam, 21, and Qassam Abu Sariya, 29.
As the Israeli military vehicles exited the camp, the army’s statement said, “a military vehicle was hit by an explosive device, damaging the vehicle”, after which military helicopters shot towards the gunmen to help the forces exit.
Meanwhile, Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has publicly called for ‘a large-scale operation across the occupied West Bank’. “The time had come”, he added as per Al Jazeera.
UAE condemns
The UAE strongly condemned Israeli attacks on the Palestinian city of Jenin and its camp through air strikes and shootings, which resulted in deaths and injuries.
In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) called on Israeli authorities to reduce escalation, and avoid steps that exacerbate tension and violence in the Palestinian territories.
The Ministry stressed the need to support all regional and international efforts to stop the escalation of tension and advance the revival of the Middle East Peace Process, end illegal practices that threaten the two-state solution, and establish an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Meanwhile, Jordan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has condemned the Israeli government’s decision to expedite construction and expansion of settlements by granting a “hardline minister control over settlement planning”.
Describing the settlement expansion and displacement of residents as a blatant violation and a grave breach of the international law, Sinan Majali, the ministry spokesman, called for immediate action by the international community to halt Israeli unilateral measures, Xinhua news agency reported, citing a ministry statement.
The Israeli practices also undermine the foundations of peace and the prospects for a two-state solution, Majali said.
Israel has fast-tracked the government procedure needed for building new settlement homes in the occupied West Bank.
The resolution by Israel’s nationalist-religious coalition government revised the approval process that has remained unchanged for the past 25 years, Xinhua news agency quoted the state-run Kan TV channel as saying.
Previously, new construction in the settlements required a series of separate approvals from the Prime Minister, Defence Minister and the Supreme Planning Council of the Civil Administration, a process that could take years.
Under the new resolution, Bezalel Smotrich, who serves as Finance Minister and a minister in the Defence Ministry who oversees settlers’ affairs, will be responsible for granting the initial approval for new construction.
Most of the other steps will be waived, except for getting approval from the planning council, according to the new procedure.
Also on Sunday, Smotrich announced that the government was set to approve the construction of 4,560 housing units throughout the West Bank.
“We will continue to develop the settlement and strengthen the Israeli hold on the territory,” Smotrich wrote on Twitter.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry denounced the move, describing it as “another step” towards an Israeli annexation of the West Bank.
The settlements are located in the West Bank, a territory seized by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war.
Most of the international community considers them a violation of international law and a hurdle to peace with the Palestinians.