Israeli raid in West Bank kills four Palestinians

RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories: Israeli forces on Thursday killed four Palestinians including a teenager in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said, the latest deadly raid on Jenin.

The Israeli army said troops “neutralised” two suspected militants, accusing them of “terrorist activities”. The Palestinian health ministry said 23 others had been wounded in the raid in the northern West Bank city, five of them seriously.

It identified those killed as Omar Awadin, 16, Luay al-Zughair, 37, Nidal Khazim, 28 and Youssef Shreem, 29. The army statement said Khazim and Shreem were both residents of the Jenin refugee camp and members of Islamic Jihad.

The militant group said Israel “will pay the price for these crimes” without identifying the two as its members. Mahmoud al-Saadi of the Palestinian Red Crescent in Jenin told AFP that “an Israeli undercover unit stormed the city centre´s Abu Bakr street”.

The raid comes days before a planned meeting between Palestinian and Israeli officials on Sunday in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh for talks aimed at reducing tensions ahead of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

Islamist movement Hamas, which rules in the Israeli-blockaded Gaza Strip, called the latest raid a “crime”, warning it will not go “unanswered”. Israeli forces have launched numerous raids on the city of Jenin and its eponymous refugee camp in recent months targeting Palestinian militants. These raids have killed many Palestinians since the start of the year, including seven earlier this month and 10 in January.