The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) carried out a large-scale military operation across the governorate and its refugee camp in the northern occupied West Bank on Tuesday, November 19. Among the areas raided by the IOF was Muthalath al-Shuhada village near Qabatiya town, south of Jenin, where three Palestinian young men were killed by Israeli gunfire. Two others were killed by Israeli fire in Jenin.
Those killed in Qabatiya were identified as Raed Abdul Rahman Sadiq Hanaysha (24), Anwar Nidal Saba’neh (25), and Adnan Suleiman Tazaza’a (32). The IOF reportedly confiscated and mutilated the bodies of the three men, who are said to be fighters within the Qabatiya Brigade, affiliated with Saraya Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement.
The Israeli incursions in Jenin on Tuesday continued for more than 20 hours, during which at least nine people were also injured by live ammunition and by shrapnel from an Israeli drone-launched missile, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society. Firas Al-Jasser and Rami Al-Huweiti who were injured by Israeli fire succumbed to their injuries after Israeli forces prevented PRCS ambulances from reaching them.
The IOF also bombed a house and a mobile home in Qabatiya, while Israeli bulldozers caused widespread damage to infrastructure across Jenin, amid fierce clashes between the IOF and resistance fighters. The damage resulted in the cutting off of electricity and water lines to several areas inside Jenin refugee camp.
A number of Palestinian houses and a commercial shop in the camp were set on fire by the Israeli army, who prevented Palestinian civil defense crews from reaching them.
The latest IOF’s incursions of Jenin represent another chapter from “Operation Summer Camps”, which Israel launched last August to eradicate Palestinian resistance and groups and brigades in the occupied West Bank. The operation marked the use of Israeli fighter jets within the West Bank for the first time in two decades.
The escalation in the West Bank is seen as part of Israeli attempts to thwart any possibility for the two-state solution that Israeli authorities claim to uphold. It is also considered a prelude for the West Bank annexation. Earlier this month, Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for preparations to be made for the plan which stands in complete violation of international law and UN resolutions. Smotrich’s annexation plan is likely to receive support from the incoming US administration led by Donald Trump.
