Three Palestinians were killed and 12 others were wounded on Friday during
an Israeli occupation forces raid in Jenin, the occupied West Bank.
اضافة اعلان
The men were killed when Israeli occupation forces opened fire on a vehicle in which
they were, the
Palestinian news agency Wafa said.
"Fierce clashes" then ensued in the area, with Israeli occupation troops
firing at Palestinians, wounding 12, Wafa reported.
An AFP photographer said a white vehicle riddled with bullet holes was in
the area where Israeli occupation forces have stepped up operations in recent months.
The men were identified as Yusef Salah, 23, Baraa Lahluh, 24, and Laith Abu
Srur, 24, all from Jenin.
The Islamic group Hamas said Lahluh was one of its commanders in the West
Bank and vowed that the killings "will not go unpunished".
The funerals of the three men took place early Friday afternoon in Jenin in
the presence of large crowds and armed Palestinian fighters.
The Israeli occupation army said in a statement that its troops had been conducting an
operation in Jenin to search for weapons at two different locations.
The occupation soldiers had come under fire as they arrived at the first location and
they retaliated before identifying a suspicious vehicle on the side of the road
on their way to the second location, it said.
"Armed assailants inside a vehicle shot at the soldiers, who responded
with live fire to neutralise the assailants," the army said on its Twitter
account.
Following an exchange of fire, soldiers found weapons, including two M-16
assault rifles and cartridges at the scene.
- West Bank hotspot
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The Israeli occupation army has ramped up raids in and around the occupied West Bank's
Jenin camp.
Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleeh, a prominent TV reporter
with Al Jazeera, was shot dead last month in Jenin while she was covering
an Israeli occupation army operation.
The Palestinian Authority, Al Jazeera and Qatar, where the channel is based,
accused the Israeli occupation army of killing the journalist. Several journalistic
probes have also pointed in the same direction.
A Palestinian investigation said the reporter -- who was wearing a
bullet-proof vest with "press" written on it and a helmet when she
was shot -- was killed in what it described as a war crime.
Israel has denied the allegations, arguing that she could have been killed
by a Palestinian gunman, but later said it could not rule out the possibility
that it was Israeli soldiers.
The Israeli occupation army has not yet released its conclusion following an internal
investigation.
The Israeli occupation police had launched the internal investigation following an
international outcry after Abu Akleeh's coffin was almost dropped when police
attacked the pallbearers during her funeral.
On Thursday, the Israeli occupation police closed the probe into violence at the
funeral -- without however releasing any findings.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said the US was seeking more
information about the probe into the funeral.
"Certainly, to us, typically these investigations -- the findings of
them -- are released publicly," Price told reporters in Washington.
US President Joe Biden is expected in Israel and the West Bank next month.
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