Nine Palestinians have been killed during an Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian health officials say – the deadliest in years.
An elderly woman was reported among the dead, in the flashpoint town of Jenin.
The Israeli military said its troops went in to arrest Islamic Jihad militants planning “major attacks”.
The Palestinian presidency accused Israel of a “massacre” in the northern town, which has been the scene of repeated raids in recent months.
The incursions are part of what the Israeli military describes as an anti-terrorism offensive which began last April.
Heavy gunfire and explosions could be heard in video footage from Jenin refugee camp on Thursday morning, as Israeli troops clashed with Palestinian militants.
The Palestinian health ministry identified three of those killed as Magda Obaid, 60, Saeb Izreiqi, 24, and Izzidin Salahat, 26. Twenty people were also wounded, four of them seriously, it said.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said its troops entered Jenin to arrest an Islamic Jihad “terror squad”, who it accused of being “heavily involved in planning and executing multiple major terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians and soldiers”.
It said forces surrounded a building and that three armed suspects were “neutralised”, while a fourth suspect surrendered. The military said troops were shot at by other Palestinian gunmen and returned fire, hitting targets. It added it was looking into “claims regarding additional casualties”.
Islamic Jihad and Hamas said their militants had targeted the troops with gunfire and improvised explosive devices.
The official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that seven youths were shot and wounded while attempting to prevent the Israeli forces from entering Jenin, and that the troops “completely destroyed” the Jenin Camp Club. (BBC)
