Israel police say three Palestinians killed in raid near Jenin

AFP: OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Israeli forces killed three Palestinians described as members of a “terrorist cell” during a raid near the occupied West Bank city of Jenin on Tuesday, police said.

The operation in the village of Kfar Qud was carried out jointly by the army and the police’s elite counterterrorism unit, Yamam.

“During an offensive operation conducted by Yamam forces in the Kfar Qud area of the Menashe sector, the fighters acted to neutralise a terrorist cell that was planning an attack and was part of a terrorist organisation active in the Jenin refugee camp,” the Israeli police said in a statement.

“The forces spotted members of the cell emerging from a cave. The unit’s snipers then opened precise fire, killing the three terrorists,” they added.

The army later launched an air strike on the cave to destroy the “terrorist hideout”, the police said.

Defence Minister Israel Katz hailed the operation, warning that “any attempt by terrorist organisations to rebuild their infrastructure in Judea and Samaria will be crushed with an iron fist”.

“I have ordered the IDF (army) to take all necessary measures, on the ground and from the air, to eliminate terrorist threats in Judea and Samaria and the terrorists themselves,” he added, using the Israeli biblical term for the occupied West Bank.

The Israeli military launched a large-scale campaign last winter across several northern occupied West Bank refugee camps shortly after a brief ceasefire took effect in the Gaza Strip, aiming to suppress Palestinian armed groups.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians have since been displaced in the occupied West Bank, where Israel has demolished dozens of homes and buildings.

Violence in the territory has surged since the war in Gaza erupted following Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect on October 10, mediated by the United States, Egypt and Qatar.

Prior to Thursday’s incident, at least 988 Palestinians, have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces or settlers since the start of the war in Gaza, according to the Ramallah-based Palestinian health ministry.

During the same period, 43 Israelis, including soldiers, have been killed in Palestinian attacks, according to official Israeli figures.

More than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements in the occupied West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967.