Ramallah, December 15 (IANS). Clashes broke out between Palestinian security forces and armed Palestinian factions in the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank.
A medical source said one terrorist was killed and several others were injured in the clash.
The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, “Palestinian security forces laid siege to the refugee camp on Saturday, after which militants affiliated with the “Jenin Brigade” of the Islamic Jihad movement and other Palestinian factions attacked two Palestinian Authority buildings on December 5. Vehicles confiscated.
During a clash between terrorists and Palestinian security forces in the camp, one terrorist was killed by security forces’ bullets, while several others were injured. Five members of the Palestinian security forces are also said to have been injured.
Palestinian security forces spokesman Anwar Rajab confirmed in a statement that forces had launched an operation in Jenin to maintain public security.
He said that under this operation the Jenin camp has to be saved. Because the violence here has disrupted the daily lives of citizens and deprived them of their right to receive public services freely and safely.
Palestinian militant group Hamas, which has been fighting Israeli forces in Gaza for more than a year, condemned the Palestinian Authority (PA) for the Jenin operation and its sister group Islamic Jihad called for a day of protests.
A medical source said a body was brought to Jenin’s Ibn Sina hospital on Saturday.
Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007 (which also has a presence in the West Bank), identified the dead man as Yazid and said he was a fighter.
Jenin has also been the center of conflict between Palestinian militant groups and the Israeli military in recent years. Israeli raids have intensified since March 2022 following Palestinian attacks on Jenin and the outskirts in the north of the West Bank.
Tension in Jenin escalated on 5 December when armed men seized two government PA vehicles and paraded through the camp waving flags of the Islamic Jihad group.
On Thursday the PA claimed responsibility for the killing of a 19-year-old man in Jenin three days earlier.
The PA has partial administrative authority over the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967.
–IANS
DKM/KR
