JENIN, Palestinian Territories —
Israeli occupation forces on Wednesday killed four Palestinians and injured 44 others,
according to the Palestinian health ministry.
اضافة اعلان
The killings are the latest Israeli violence in
Jenin, in the north of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, an area that has seen
violent Israeli raids on a near daily basis since the beginning of March.
Jenin Deputy Governor Kamal Abu Al-Rub told AFP that
Wednesday’s raid was “the most violent that the occupation army has carried out
since the start of the year”.
‘Ready to face them’
Mohammed Al-Haj Qasem, head
of operations at Jenin’s Ibn Sina Hospital, said the Israeli violence was the
worst since the facility opened around two years ago.
“It’s not only the number of deaths but those
wounded and their gravity,” he told AFP.
Hundreds gathered for funerals in Jenin and its
refugee camp later on Wednesday.
At a mosque in the camp, hundreds mourned Abed Hazem,
whose body was wrapped in a Palestinian flag, while young men kissed his
forehead.
Earlier this month, Israeli occupation forces
destroyed the home of Hazem’s brother Raad, whose image is carried on posters
in the camp glorifying him as a “lion”.
“We’re not afraid of anything,” said a young
Palestinian man, who requested anonymity due to security concerns.
“If Israelis want an escalation, we are ready to
face them,” he added.
Since March, Israel has launched hundreds of raids
into the northern West Bank, including in Jenin and nearby Nablus.
According to the
Palestinian health ministry, more
than 150 Palestinians have been killed since the start of 2022, the Palestinian
news agency, Wafa, reported.
Palestinian-American reporter Shireen Abu Akleh was
killed by Israeli forces in Jenin while covering a raid in May.
‘Policy of escalation’
Analysts have warned that
the dramatic uptick in Israeli West Bank raids is further weakening the
unpopular Palestinian Authority, with Palestinians increasingly condemning
President
Mahmoud Abbas’s administration for its security cooperation with
Israel.
Abbas’s spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina accused Israel
of “tampering with security and stability through pursuing a policy of
escalation,” in a statement published by Wafa.
The EU, in a tweet, said it was “alarmed by the
spike in violence today in Jenin following the (Israeli) incursions”.
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