CNN
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On Thursday, Israeli forces killed nine Palestinians and injured several others in the West Bank city of Jenin, the Palestinian health ministry said, prompting the Palestinian Authority to suspend security coordination with Israel.
Hours after the Jenin raid, a tenth Palestinian was killed in what Israeli police described as “violent unrest” near Jerusalem.
The death toll makes Thursday the deadliest day for Palestinians in the West Bank in more than a year, according to CNN records. This brings the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces this year to 30, according to Palestinian Health Ministry figures. That toll includes militants targeted in Israeli raids, individuals who attacked Israelis and bystanders, according to CNN reports.
Nine Palestinians, including an elderly woman, were killed in an Israeli raid on the Jenin refugee camp, the Palestinian health ministry said.
Israeli security forces said they were operating in Jenin on Thursday to apprehend a “terrorist squad belonging to the Islamic Jihad terror organization”, saying in a statement they had killed three “terrorists”.
“Islamic Jihad terrorists were heavily involved in the execution and planning of several major terrorist attacks, including shooting attacks against IDF soldiers and Israeli civilians,” the Israel Defense Forces joint statement said, from the Israel Security Agency and the Border Police.
The statement said two armed suspects were “neutralized” while fleeing and a third was neutralized at the scene. Another suspect turned himself in, they said.
Israeli forces reported no injuries on their side, but said they were aware of “allegations of additional casualties in the firefight” and were investigating.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRC) said Israeli forces initially blocked medics from entering the Jenin camp, making it difficult to reach the wounded, four of whom were in critical condition.
The PRC said Israeli forces also fired tear gas canisters towards the government hospital in Jenin, causing inhalation injuries among children.
Later Thursday, a 22-year-old Palestinian man was shot dead by Israeli soldiers in Al-Ram near Jerusalem, the Palestinian health ministry said, making him the tenth Palestinian killed that day.
Israel Border Police said they were responding to a “violent disturbance” in the city and that “a terrorist who fired fireworks at close range at our forces ‘has been neutralized’. The force said in a statement that one of his officers also shot and hit a second person who allegedly fired fireworks at him.
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh called on the United Nations and international human rights organizations to “urgently intervene to ensure protection…and stop the bloodshed of the children, young people and women”.
The Palestinian Authority also announced that it would immediately cease security coordination with Israel, its Deputy Prime Minister Nabil Abu Rudineh told a press conference in Ramallah following the raid.
“In light of the repeated aggressions against our people and the disregard for signed agreements, including security ones, we consider that security coordination with the Israeli occupation government no longer exists from now on,” Abu Rudineh said. .
Coordination between Israel and the Palestinians involves a range of civil and security issues, including the sharing of certain intelligence for security operations targeting militant groups – considered essential to prevent terrorist attacks.
But Palestinian Authority leaders have come under pressure to cut coordination, especially over the past year which has seen some of the highest levels of violence and death for Palestinians and Israelis in years.
The Palestinian Authority previously suspended security coordination for several months in 2020, after Israel announced plans to annex parts of the West Bank under former President Donald Trump’s peace plan. The annexation did not take place and security coordination resumed.
Last year was the deadliest for Palestinians in the West Bank and for Israelis in nearly two decades, a CNN analysis of official statistics from both sides showed.
Israel’s top military officer told CNN that “fighting terrorism is a complex mission,” following Thursday’s deadly Israeli raid. Herzi Halevi, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff, was speaking to CNN’s Hadas Gold shortly after the raid, and before he was fully briefed.
An IDF spokesman later told CNN the military was responding to intelligence about an impending attack.
“We entered Jenin in broad daylight,” the spokesman said, noting that the decision to operate by day rather than by night, as the IDF usually does, shows how “urgent” the mission was.
When the forces arrived at the targeted building, they “came under heavy fire and returned fire”.
The suspects were barricaded in a house when the IDF arrived, “so, in addition, the forces used a shoulder-fired anti-tank missile.”
“We are aware of reports that a woman in her 60s, to our great regret, was killed during the operation. We do not yet know who is responsible, who fired and where she was. added the spokesperson.
Israel is strengthening its defensive position against attacks by Palestinian militants following the raid, the Defense Ministry said.
