Hundreds leave Jenin as Israel doubles down on raids: Palestine

beirut: Israel’s deadly raid in Jenin has entered its third day, with its forces issuing a forced evacuation threat to residents of the refugee camp in the city.

Hundreds of Palestinians in Jenin refugee camp started leaving their homes on Thursday.

“The Israeli army, using loudspeakers on drones and military vehicles, ordered them to evacuate the camp,” where Israel’s military launched an intense military operation this week, Jenin governor Kamal Abu al-Rub said.

Elsewhere, two Palestinian men were killed overnight in attacks by Israeli forces in Burqin, taking the death toll to 12 across Jenin governorate in the first two days of large-scale raids.

The raids are part of Israel’s Iron Wall campaign across the Palestinian occupied territory, launched just days after a ceasefire in Gaza.

Palestinian news network Al Quds Today reported Muhammad Abu al-Asaad and Qutaiba al-Shalabi were killed in “an armed clash with the occupation forces that lasted for several hours”.

The Israeli military confirmed the killings on Thursday, claiming that the two were affiliated with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and were wanted for carrying out the shooting attack in the village of Funduq in the Qalqilya governorate earlier this month, which killed three Israelis and injured six.

However, al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s armed wing, said the two men were Hamas members.

Palestinian General Authority of Civil Affairs said Israeli forces have refused to release their bodies.

Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that Israeli forces involved in the killings surrounded a house in Burqin, and fired shots and missiles at it before razing it to the ground using a bulldozer.

Hassan Sobh, Burqin’s mayor, was quoted as saying in the report that Israeli soldiers used women as human shields during the attack.

On Wednesday, the Defence for Children International Palestine (DCIP) reported that a 16-year-old, Motaz Imad Mousa Abu Tabeekh, was shot dead by Israeli forces.