An Israeli soldier was killed and another seriously wounded overnight during a raid in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, the army said on Thursday. It was the latest in a series of violent Israeli raids on the city.
The soldier who was killed, a sniper team commander, “fell during operational activity,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a brief statement, which gave few details. Wafa, the official Palestinian news agency, reported that one Palestinian was injured in the raid.
Jenin, in the northern West Bank, houses a refugee camp established more than 70 years ago for Palestinians displaced in the wars surrounding the creation of the state of Israel. The city and the camp are bastions of armed resistance to the occupation. Israel has carried out frequent raids there over the years, but they have become more frequent since October 7, when Hamas led a deadly attack on Israel that sparked a war in Gaza.
The military arrested 28 people during the overnight raid and nine remain in custody, including Jamal Hawail, a member of Fatah’s Revolutionary Council, according to a statement from the Palestinian Authority-affiliated Committee on Prisoners and Former Prisoners Affairs. and the Palestinian Prisoners Club, a non-governmental organization. The council sets policy for Fatah, the political party that controls the Palestinian Authority. The Israeli statement did not comment on the arrests.
Hundreds of Palestinians have been arrested in the raids, which Israeli officials say are part of counter-terrorism operations against Hamas and an extension of the war.
UN human rights chief Volker Türk said this month that Israeli forces and settlers have killed more than 500 people in the West Bank since October 7. were killed in the West Bank and Israel in clashes or what Israel called attacks by Palestinians from the West Bank, Mr. Türk said.
