Ramallah, November 30 (RHC)-- Two Palestinian children have been shot dead by Israeli troops attacking Jenin city in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry says. The ministry identified the two, who were killed by Israeli occupation forces early on Wednesday, during Israel's ongoing aggression against the city of Jenin and its camp, as the eight-year-old Adam Samer al-Ghoul and the fifteen-year-old Basil Suleiman Abu al-Wafa.
Hamas said in a statement that the occupation’s killing of two children “in cold blood” in Jenin was a horrific crime, and called for condemning this crime and holding the occupation accountable for it. Meanwhile, the health ministry said the occupation forces continued their aggression against the Jenin camp, where they launched a massive arrest campaign and forced citizens in Damj neighborhood to get out of their homes amid violent confrontations.
The Palestinian WAFA news agency reported that the occupation forces heavily damaged homes and streets in the neighborhood, and bombed a house using a drone. The occupation bulldozers also demolished the infrastructure, including water, electricity, and sewage networks, and caused damage to several vehicles in the camp.
The Israeli regime's forces embarked on an extensive raid against the city of Jenin and its refugee camp on Tuesday night. The Israeli army, accompanied by bulldozers, entered the city from several directions, storming neighborhoods, deploying snipers on the rooftops of buildings, and imposing a siege on the Jenin camp.
According to Lebanon's al-Mayadeen television network, the forces "detained many families" during the swoop.
Meanwhile, the al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, said its forces in Jenin had fought back against Israeli forces for many hours, and inflicted heavy losses on the occupation forces. The resistance fighters also targeted Israeli vehicles and infantry forces using bombs in the al-Damj neighborhood, which led to a number of casualties, it said.
A joint statement by the Israeli occupation army and the so-called internal security service Shin Bet stated that “two prominent commanders were assassinated in the Jenin camp, one of whom was the commander of the Jenin Brigade, Muhammad al-Zubaidi.”
Israeli violence in the West Bank has surged in the weeks since Israel’s war on Gaza started on October 7.
Israeli forces killed seven Palestinians, including two minors, in the West Bank late on Saturday and early Sunday.
Israeli forces have killed at least 242 Palestinians and injured 2,850 others, and arrested hundreds in the West Bank, while West Bank settlers have also stepped up attacks.
The intensified violence in the territory follows more than a year of escalating raids and arrests in the West Bank and deadly Palestinian attacks on Israelis.