Palestinians displaced from Jenin city and Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank, where Israel has continued its attacks for 10 days, are experiencing worse conditions than during the 2002 large-scale military operation that invaded the camp [Getty]
A 16-year-old Palestinian boy was among five killed on Saturday in Israeli airstrikes on Jenin in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said, as a large-scale Israeli military operation there looks set to continue for a third week.
The Israeli military began raiding the city in the northern West Bank on 21 January, just two days after a ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas came into effect.
Hundreds of Israeli soldiers, backed by the air force, have since engaged in gun battles with Palestinian fighters in Jenin as they search for military weapons and equipment, Israel says.
Asked whether a teenage boy had been killed in an airstrike, the Israeli military said the air force had struck “armed terrorists” in the Jenin area, declining further comment.
An Israeli air strike on an eastern neighbourhood of Jenin killed 16-year-old Ahmad al-Sadi and critically wounded two other people, the Palestinian health ministry said.
The ministry later said four others had been killed in Israeli airstrikes on the Jenin area.
“After the strike that killed the child (Sadi), an Israeli drone strike hit a car in Qabatiya and killed two youths,” Jenin governor Kamal Abu al-Rub told news agency AFP.
“Minutes later another drone strike in Jenin killed two more youths who were on a motorcycle.”
The Israeli military said in statement the air force had struck a vehicle “with terrorists inside” in the area of Jenin’s Qabatiya.
At least 18 Palestinians, including six members of armed groups and a two-year-old girl, have been killed in Jenin and nearby villages during the operation, according to Palestinian officials.
The Israeli military said forces had killed at least 18 operatives and detained 60 wanted individuals, dismantling more than 100 explosive devices and seizing a weapons-making workshop.
Israeli officials have repeatedly said the country’s enemy Iran smuggles weapons to West Bank fighters and that the military is acting against the “Iranian axis”.
Israel has not recently released any evidence to support its claims, and while Western officials do say Iran is smuggling weapons into the West Bank, some dispute how substantial it is.
In Jenin, dozens of houses have been demolished and roads in the refugee camp there have been dug up by armored Israeli bulldozers, driving thousands of people from their homes.
Water has been cut and Palestinian officials say that at least 80% of the camp’s inhabitants have been forced to leave their homes.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday the military would stay in Jenin until the military operation is complete, without saying when that would be.Â
Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 881 Palestinians in the West Bank since the start of the war, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
