At least 4 killed in Israeli raid in northern West Bank, Palestinian officials say

JENIN REFUGEE CAMP, West Bank —  At least four Palestinians were killed and 44 others wounded during an Israeli military raid Wednesday in the occupied West Bank town of Jenin, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

The Israeli military said troops arrived at the Jenin refugee camp to arrest two Palestinians suspected of involvement in recent shooting attacks. When soldiers surrounded a house in the camp, an explosive device detonated, a gunfight ensued and Israeli forces fatally shot the two Palestinian suspects, the army said.

Wednesday’s raid in the northern West Bank marked the latest in a series of deadly Israeli operations following a surge in Palestinian attacks inside Israel last spring. The Israeli military identified one of the suspected militants killed as Rahman Hazam, the brother of a Palestinian gunman who attacked a bar in central Tel Aviv in April and was killed by police.

A third Palestinian man was killed as arriving Israeli troops were met by violent protesters, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. Ahmed Alawneh died after being shot in the head and 44 others were wounded by gunfire during the clashes, two critically with bullets to the chest, according to the ministry.

Dozens of Palestinians have been killed in the crackdown on the West Bank, making this year the deadliest in the occupied territory since 2015. The city of Jenin, long considered a bastion of Palestinian militancy, has regularly seen Israeli arrest raids that lead to gun battles with camp residents.

Footage online showed giant plumes of smoke billowing from a house in the crowded camp and young men ducking behind cars as heavy gunfire rang out on the city streets.

Most of the Palestinians killed in the recent wave of Israeli raids have been wanted militants or young men who throw stones or firebombs at soldiers invading their towns. But some civilians, including an Al Jazeera journalist and a lawyer who inadvertently drove into a battle zone, have also been killed in the violence.

Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast War and has built more than 130 settlements across the territory that are home to nearly 500,000 Jewish settlers. The Palestinians want the West Bank, home to some 3 million Palestinians, to form the main part of their future state.

The last serious peace talks broke down more than a decade ago.