Israeli security forces and settler groups have engaged in attacks against Palestinians across the occupied West Bank since the Israel-Hamas ceasefire came into effect on Sunday.
The settler attacks erupted almost immediately after the ceasefire began, with members of Israel’s far-right reportedly targeting some of the villages where released Palestinian women and child prisoners had homes. Other Palestinian homes appear to have been randomly targeted.
Separately, the Israeli military launched an operation, called “Iron Wall”, in the city of Jenin and the adjacent Jenin refugee camp.
The military assault comes after a weeks-long raid by Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces on the Jenin refugee camp, where it targeted local Palestinian fighters in what it defined as an attempt to restore law and order, but which many Palestinians see as a crackdown on independent Palestinian armed groups resisting the Israeli occupation.
The Israeli military’s attacks in Jenin have killed 12 people – 10 during raids across Jenin governorate on Tuesday and two on Wednesday night.
It is still unclear how many of those killed on Tuesday were civilians, but a PA statement said that Israeli forces had “opened fire on civilians and security forces, resulting in injuries to several civilians and a number of security personnel”. The PA added that at least 35 people had been wounded.
The deaths on Wednesday occurred in Burqin, a town just to the west of Jenin city. Palestinian news network Al Quds Today reported that Muhammad Abu al-Asaad and Qutaiba al-Shalabi were killed in “an armed clash with the [Israeli] occupation forces”. Hamas’s armed wing said the two men were members of Hamas, although the Israeli military said they were affiliated with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).
Meanwhile, at least 21 Palestinians have been injured in attacks committed by Israeli settlers across the West Bank since the ceasefire began on Sunday.
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