Elderly Woman Among at Least 9 Palestinians Killed During Raid on Jenin

Jenin Refugee Camp, Occupied West Bank, Palestine – At least 9 Palestinians, including an elderly woman were killed by Israeli forces during a raid on the Jenin Refugee Camp this morning. At least 20 were injured, with four in critical condition.

Thursday morning’s raid was the deadliest in decades. Israel has killed at least 29 Palestinians in the first 27 days of the new calendar year. Many are expecting things to get worse with the new far-right Israeli government.

Israeli media claimed that the operation in Jenin targeted three wanted persons from the Islamic Jihad Movement who had planned a major operation against Israeli targets. The official Israeli radio “Kan” stated that “forces from Yamam and border guards stormed the Jenin camp this morning on a mission to arrest wanted Palestinians, during which there was an exchange of heavy fire.”

Israeli media reported that “the main wanted person in the operation was arrested.” Without revealing his identity and details, the Army Radio reported that the aim of the operation was to arrest a senior wanted man from the Islamic Jihad Movement. Meanwhile another of the three wanted militants was killed while the other escaped.

The nine Palestinians killed during the raid on Jenin were: Abdullah Marwan Al-Ghoul (18), Moatasem Mahmoud Abu Al-Hassan (40), Wasim Amjad Aref Al-Jaas (22), Nour Al-Din Sami Ghoneim (25), Muhammad Sami Ghoneim (28), Muhammad Mahmoud Sobh (30), Saeb Essam Zreiki (24), Izz al-Din Yassin Salahat (22), and the elderly woman Magda Obaid (61) whom her family says simply looked out her window when she was killed by an Israeli sniper.

Three of the nine Palestinians killed in Jenin during an Israeli raid on January 26, 2023 are pictured at their funeral

Of the injuries, the Palestinian Ministry of Health stated that “most of the injuries that arrived at hospitals today from Jenin camp were in the head and chest, which means that the shooting at citizens was intended to kill, and the occupation’s aggression resulted in the death of 9 martyrs, and dozens of injuries, including 4 in a state of danger.”

According to reports, the first Israeli forces that stormed the area arrived disguised in a dairy truck. Israel used heavy artillery, anti-tank missiles, and bulldozers.

An Israeli military reconnaissance drone was reported shot down during the fighting. The Army confirmed, quoting a security source, that a reconnaissance drone had fallen in the Jenin camp and claimed that there was no fear of information leakage.

Watch: Palestinian resistance fighters successfully target an Israeli military drone which falls out of the sky as a result during a furious Israeli military raid into the Jenin refugee camp, this morning. pic.twitter.com/rY4E3WNlL8
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) January 26, 2023

Due to intensity of the gunfighting around the Jenin Camp Club, Israeli forces destroyed the club’s exterior, whose courtyards held the mourning houses of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces. Israeli bulldozers and artillery destroyed at least a dozen vehicles, many in the parking lot of the club.

After witnessing the fighting, Abu Muhammad told Unicorn Riot that droves of youth were resisting the raid and shooting bullets and throwing firebombs at the Israeli soldiers. He said that after a wall of the club was destroyed, it allowed Israeli forces a path to reach the youth fighters. On top of that, Muhammad said Israeli snipers were shooting everyone who tried to help the wounded.

A military correspondent of Israel’s Yedioth Ahronoth (ynetnews) said, “The operation in broad daylight in Jenin and this size indicates its importance and urgency. In the security establishment, they are talking about thwarting a major attack that was planned for the first time in years.”

The Palestinian Authority, who are tasked with running security in the occupied West Bank and have intricate partnered relations with the Israelis, have now severed their ties with Israel over the deadly raid.