9 Palestinians, including elderly woman killed in Israeli forces raid

Middle East, News January 27, 2023 , by IRIA No Comments

At least 9 people have been killed, including an elderly woman, during an ongoing Israeli military’s large-scale raid and clashes in the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank on January 26, 2023.

According to the Palestinian health ministry, Israeli forces used live ammunition until 10 A.M. local time (02:00 EST), killing 4 individuals and injuring 13 others.

Some reports suggested that Israeli forces also fired tear gas toward the hospital, which caused suffocation injuries to patients, including children.

Palestinian Health Minister Mai al Kaila said that Israeli “occupation forces stormed Jenin Government Hospital and intentionally fired tear gas canisters at the pediatric department in the hospital”.

Palestinian health officials said that the ground situation is very “critical”, as more injured people are coming to the hospital and Israeli forces are obstructing the work of medical staff and stopping ambulances from reaching the wounded people.

Jenin deputy governor Kamal Abu described the situation as a “real state of war” for local residents. Kamal Abu said that “The Israeli army is destroying everything and shooting at everything that moves”.

The head of Jenin public hospital Wissam Baker told Al Jazeera News that “There is an invasion that is unprecedented… in terms of how large it is and the number of injuries”. Baker added that “The ambulance driver tried to get to one of the martyrs who was on the floor, but the Israeli forces shot directly at the ambulance and prevented them from approaching him.”

*^{Israeli forces attacking Palestinian civilians and children in the West Bank. (Image Credit: AFP)}*

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh urged the United Nations and all international human rights organizations to “intervene urgently to provide protection for Palestinian people and stop the bloodshed of children, youth and women.”

The Israeli military justified its attack and said that special forces raid was conducted in Jenin to detain Islamic Jihad fighters suspected of carrying out “multiple major terror attacks”.

In recent months Israeli forces conducted dozens of raids across the West Bank and East Jerusalem to crack down on the armed Palestinian resistance and militant groups.

The year 2022 was marked as the deadliest year with more than 200 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces. In January 2023 alone the Israeli forces killed at least 29 Palestinians, including 5 children.

*^{Smoke rises following Israeli airstrikes on a building in Gaza City on August 5, 2022. (Image Credit: AP)}*

Last year, Amnesty International labeled Israel as an “apartheid regime” on account of its “oppression and domination” against the Palestinian Arab population. The human rights organization called on the international community to recognize Israel’s crime of apartheid and suspend “the direct and indirect supply, sale, or transfer of all weapons, munitions, and other military and security equipment, including the provision of training and other military and security assistance”.

The recent attacks came at a time when the U.S. and Israel are conducting a large-scale live-fire Juniper Oak Exercise on the land and the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. More than 7,500 military personnel, 140 aircraft, and 12 naval vessels are taking part in the U.S.-Israel joint exercise.