RAMALLAH: The Palestinian health ministry said on Wednesday that Israeli forces killed two people in separate overnight raids in the occupied West Bank, including one in Jenin, where the Israeli military is conducting a major offensive.
The Ramallah-based ministry said in a statement that a 25-year-old man it identified as Osama Abu Al-Hija was killed late on Tuesday in Jenin “as a result of an Israeli air strike.”
The military told AFP that an Israeli aircraft conducted a strike in Jenin on Tuesday night “after a terrorist threw an explosive device” toward troops.
The Israeli military has launched an intense assault on the Jenin area, now in its eighth day, to root out Palestinian militant groups.
On Monday it said it had “eliminated over 15 terrorists” and arrested 40 wanted people during the offensive.
Abu Al-Hija is the 16th person killed during the raid, which has caused many residents of Jenin refugee camp, the focus of the operation, to flee.
During a visit in the Jenin refugee camp on Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the operation — dubbed Iron Wall — was aimed at defeating “terror infrastructure” built “with funding and armament from Iran.”
“The Jenin refugee camp will not return to what it was — after the completion of the operation, the (Israeli army) will remain in the camp to ensure that terror does not return,” Katz added.
Katz’s office told AFP that Israeli forces would not remain in the area “forever” after the operation’s end.
Shortly after midnight on Wednesday, the health ministry also said a 23-year-old Palestinian man it identified as Ayman Naji was killed in the northern city of Tulkarem “after being shot” by Israeli forces.
The army told AFP it was looking into the details of both deaths.
Tulkarem, Jenin and their refugee camps are known as bastions of Palestinian militant groups, whose factions present themselves as a more effective alternative to the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority in the fight against Israel.
Before the current Israeli operation, Jenin’s refugee camp was the site of a long operation by the Palestinian Authority’s security forces attempting to root out Palestinian militants affiliated with Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups.
Violence has soared throughout the West Bank since the war between Hamas and Israel broke out in Gaza on October 7, 2023.
Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 863 Palestinians, including many militants, in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
At least 29 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military raids in the territory over the same period, according to official Israeli figures.
Palestinians say Israeli forces kill two in West Bank raids
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Palestinians say Israeli forces kill two in West Bank raids
- The Israeli military has launched an intense assault on the Jenin area
- Osama Abu Al-Hija was killed late on Tuesday in Jenin
- Ayman Naji was killed in the northern city of Tulkarem “after being shot” by Israeli forces
UN, aid groups warn Gaza operations at risk from Israel impediments
- Dozens of international aid groups face de-registration by December 31, which then means they have to close operations within 60 days
UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations and aid groups warned on Wednesday that humanitarian operations in the Palestinian territories, particularly Gaza, were at risk of collapse if Israel does not lift impediments that include a “vague, arbitrary, and highly politicized” registration process.
Dozens of international aid groups face de-registration by December 31, which then means they have to close operations within 60 days, said the UN and more than 200 local and international aid groups in a joint statement.
“The deregistration of INGOs (international aid groups) in Gaza will have a catastrophic impact on access to essential and basic services,” the statement read.
“INGOs run or support the majority of field hospitals, primary health care centers, emergency shelter responses, water and sanitation services, nutrition stabilization centers for children with acute malnutrition, and critical mine action activities,” it said.
SUPPLIES LEFT OUT OF REACH: GROUPS
While some international aid groups have been registered under the system that was introduced in March, “the ongoing re-registration process and other arbitrary hindrances to humanitarian operations have left millions of dollars’ worth of essential supplies — including food, medical items, hygiene materials, and shelter assistance — stuck outside of Gaza and unable to reach people in need,” the statement read.
Israel’s mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the statement. Under the first phase of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan, a fragile ceasefire in the two-year-old war between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas began on October 10. Hamas released hostages, Israel freed detained Palestinians and more aid began flowing into the enclave where a global hunger monitor said in August famine had taken hold.
However, Hamas says fewer aid trucks are entering Gaza than was agreed. Aid agencies say there is far less aid than required, and that Israel is blocking many necessary items from coming in. Israel denies that and says it is abiding by its obligations under the truce.
“The UN will not be able to compensate for the collapse of INGOs’ operations if they are de-registered, and the humanitarian response cannot be replaced by alternative actors operating outside established humanitarian principles,” the statement by the UN and aid groups said.
The statement stressed “humanitarian access is not optional, conditional or political,” adding: “Lifesaving assistance must be allowed to reach Palestinians without further delay.”
