On Tuesday, September 19, Israeli security forces once again raided the Palestinian city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank, killing three Palestinians and injuring dozens more. The same day, Israeli forces also killed a Palestinian man during a protest along the Israel-Gaza border. Several other protesters were injured.
According to latest reports, over 30 Palestinians sustained injuries during the raid in Jenin. In Gaza, two Palestinians were wounded by live ammunition and dozens more suffered tear gas inhalation. Reports also noted that Israeli forces carried out subsequent raids and attacks in Jenin and nearby villages and towns the next day as well, with more injuries.
The raid in Jenin involved a large contingent of soldiers with advanced and heavy weapons accompanied by armed drones. Eyewitnesses even reported an Israeli military aircraft continuously flying over the area while the raid was underway. The Israeli forces reportedly targeted a house that they claimed was being used as a hideout by a “wanted Palestinian”. They attacked the house with rockets and live ammunition until it was set on fire. The director of the Palestinian Red Crescent in Jenin, Mahmoud Sadi, who was present in the area during the raid, said that he heard “sounds of explosives and shooting” which also hampered rescuers and medics from entering the area to attend the wounded.
The heavy and indiscriminate Israeli fire damaged the electric grid in the area and caused the power plant to shut down, resulting in a power outage.
Reports noted that the Israeli forces were met with fierce resistance from Palestinian fighters active in the area who engaged them in gun battles. Palestinian resistance group Hamas later confirmed that its fighters from the Al-Qassam brigade were fighting to resist the invading Israeli forces.
Israeli forces have invaded the city of Jenin multiple times this year in order to suppress and dismantle the growing Palestinian armed resistance in the area against the Israeli occupation and war crimes. Dozens of Palestinians have been killed in these raids and hundreds injured, but the Palestinian resistance shows no signs of surrender and capitulation.
In Gaza, Israeli forces and military snipers posted on the border opened fire on the Palestinian protesters who had gathered there to demonstrate against the recent Israeli decision to close the Beit Hanoun (Erez) border crossing, the only crossing for pedestrian traffic between Gaza and Israel. The decision, announced on Sunday, has affected close to 18,000 Palestinians with permits to work in Israel who now have no way to go to work. Israeli authorities abruptly closed the crossing citing the need for a “security assessment” based on the “ongoing evaluation on the evolving situation in the region.”
Israeli human rights group Gisha denounced the decision as a form of “collective punishment” against the approximately two million Palestinians in Gaza, who already live under a debilitating land, air, and sea blockade imposed by Israel since 2006. The decision especially targets those with work permits who need to enter Israel to earn their livelihood and support their families.
Israeli security forces and extremist settlers have killed 222 Palestinians already this year, 185 of them in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem and 37 in Gaza. Among those killed are also 38 children. The death toll this year, which continues to increase with each passing day, is set to be among the highest ever figure of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in a single year.
