Ramallah: Israeli troops shot two Palestinians, including a 57-year-old schoolteacher, during an early Thursday raid on the city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank, officials and medics have said.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh has called on the countries of the world to intervene and try and stop Israel’s occupation crimes against the Palestinian people.
He also held Israel solely responsible for the continuation of such crimes.
Teacher Jawad Bavkana, a father of six children, and Adham Jabrin, 28, were both shot in the Jenin refugee camp.
With these two deaths, the number of Palestinian dead since the beginning of the year has risen to 17, including four children. Nine deaths have occurred in Jenin.
15 people have been arrested during the raid.
A large force of the Israeli army stormed the camp and positioned snipers on the roofs of many houses and buildings.
Special Israeli units stormed a residential building at the camp’s entrance, raided several apartments, and detained residents, confiscating their mobile phones.
In Jenin, Fatah secretary Ata Abu Rumaila said Israeli forces opened fire on the teacher when he was trying to administer first aid to Jabreen.
Ambulance personnel were prevented from entering the camp and taking the injured to the hospital and were taken in a private vehicle.
Violent confrontations then broke out in the camp between youths and the Israeli army, and three people were wounded by live ammunition as the army arrested civilians.
The Fatah movement and resistance forces in Jenin have declared a period of mourning for the two dead.
Wissam Bakr, director of the Khalil Suleiman government hospital in Jenin, said Israeli forces opened fire on the hospital, putting the lives of patients and doctors at risk.
Shtayyeh condemned the targeting of the hospital by the occupying forces and called on the World Health Organization and other international bodies to condemn the crimes.
Mahmoud al-Aloul, deputy leader of the Fatah movement, said that the actions of the occupation forces made it clear that continuation of the status quo was no longer acceptable.
He said that several scenarios were being discussed within the leadership, but pointed out that resistance to the occupation was the most viable option.
Major General Akram Rajoub, the governor of Jenin, said that the killing of civilians in the Jenin camp showed that killing was a priority for the Israeli government.
He told Arab News: “It is clear that Jenin has been targeted more than any other city in the West Bank, and the number of brutalities, violence and incursions is increasing in an unprecedented manner.
“The amount of forces and military vehicles that stormed the city, its camp and its villages increased each time.”
He added that the situation of violence in Jenin negatively affects all aspects of security, economic and social life in the city.
He said: “At present, I am walking the streets of Jenin, and all the stores are closed.
“In such an environment, no one comes to the city to shop, not even Palestinians who live in neighboring Israeli cities. He got into the habit of shopping and revitalizing the city’s economy.
“Jenin, after these heinous killings, is like a ghost town.”
The secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s executive committee, Hussein al-Sheikh, said President Mahmoud Abbas planned to ask US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan to encourage Israelis to stop their crimes when the two meet in Ramallah. .
Separately, Maher Younis, 65, was released from an Israeli prison on Thursday after serving 40 years.
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Club said Yunus was released early in the morning from Beersheba prison in southern Israel.
Younes was sentenced on January 18, 1983 because of his resistance to Israel and his affiliation with the Fatah movement.
He said: “I was hoping that when I came out of captivity after 40 years, I would see my country being free. I wish freedom for all the prisoners.”
Israeli police prevented Younes’ family from celebrating his release.
However, despite threats from the police, large crowds from the Ara village and the Arab community turned up at the family home to celebrate her freedom.