Israeli forces kill 4 Palestinians, 2 teens, during night raid

Israeli forces shot and killed four Palestinian young men, including at least two teenagers, during military raids on the Jenin refugee camp in the northern occupied West Bank early Monday morning. 

According to Palestinian media reports, armed Israeli forces, including undercover units, raided the Jenin refugee camp in the predawn hours of Monday morning, sparking confrontations with local armed groups. 

During the raid, Israeli forces reportedly shot at least eight Palestinians, four of whom were killed. Two of the slain Palestinians were identified as Raed Abu Saif, 21, and Saleh Ammar, 20; they were evacuated to the Jenin governmental hospital where they were pronounced dead. 

Israeli forces reportedly detained the bodies of two of the other slain Palestinians, identified as Nour El-Din Abdullah Jarrar, 19, and Amjad Iyad Azmi Husseini, 19. 

One Palestinian man from the camp, identified by Wafa News Agency as Mohammad Abu Zaina, was also detained from his home during the raid.

The Israeli Border Police claimed in a statement that its troops “came under heavy fire from close range from a large number of terrorists.” The troops then opened fire on the Palestinians, “neutralizing” them, the statement said. No Israeli forces were injured during the raid. 

Eyewitnesses told Middle East Eye that Israeli snipers were shooting at Palestinians from rooftops in the camp, including Jarrar, who reportedly fired back at the soldiers. 

One witness told Middle East Eye that Israeli forces shot Jarrar, causing him to fall on the ground, at which point they “fired heavily on him and did not stop until after he had died.”

Testimony from witnesses indicated that one young man, allegedly Husseini attempted to drag Jarrar’s body to safety, at which point he was shot at by snipers as well. 

Israeli forces also reportedly prevented Palestinian ambulances from reaching Jarrar and Husseini, before detaining both of their bodies. 

Israel has a policy of detaining the bodies of slain Palestinians that it accuses of committing so-called “terror attacks.” The policy, which is widely condemned by Palestinian rights groups and violates international law, has been in effect since 1967. 

It is estimated that since then, Israel has buried at least 253 Palestinians in a “cemetery of numbers” with unmarked gravestones — their bodies were never returned to their families for a proper burial ceremony.

On Monday afternoon, large crowds gathered in the Jenin refugee camp for the funeral processions of Abu Saif and Ammar. 

A general strike was also called on Monday across Jenin city in mourning of the four young men who were killed. 

The Palestinian leadership condemned the killings, with the spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas calling it a “heinous crime.”

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh urged the UN and other international human rights bodies to condemn the “outrageous crime,” and warned against the escalation of “Israeli policies of murder, ethnic cleansing, demolition of homes, and appropriation of land and property.”

Violent raids

Israeli detention raids in Palestinian cities, villages, and refugee camps are a near-nightly occurrence in the occupied West Bank, with Israeli forces often using lethal force during such raids. 

On Monday morning alone, Israeli forces conducted raids in areas across the West Bank, detaining at least eight Palestinians.

In addition to the raid on the Jenin refugee camp, reports indicated that Israeli forces also used live ammunition during a raid on the town of Tammun, south of Tubas in the northern West Bank, injuring three Palestinians. 

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian affairs (OCHA), Israeli forces have conducted more than 2,500 arrest raids in the West Bank since the beginning of the year. From the period of July 27th to August 9th, Israeli forces Israeli forces carried out 92 raids across the West Bank, arresting 115 Palestinians, including 11 children. 

In the same time period, OCHA reported that 764 Palestinians were injured by Israeli forces across the West Bank, and four Palestinians were killed. 

From August 9th until the 16th, at least five other Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces, including the four young men who were killed Monday. 

So far in 2021, Israeli forces have killed at least 55 Palestinians in the West Bank, and injured close to 12,000 more.

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