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RAMALLAH: Two Palestinians were killed by Israeli security forces in Jenin on Thursday, and 14 more were injured, according to Palestinian medical sources.
Yazid Saedi, 27, and Sanad Abu Attyiah, 17, were killed in Jenin, in the northern West Bank, during a large-scale operation by Israeli forces.
An Israeli settler, meanwhile, killed another Palestinian on a bus in southern Bethlehem after the Palestinian allegedly stabbed another passenger.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health confirmed that Nidal Juma’a Ja’fara, 30, was killed south of the town.
The violence coincided with an extremist member of the Knesset, Itamar Ben-Gvir, visiting Al-Aqsa Mosque on Thursday morning, where he photographed some areas with his mobile phone.
Jenin Gov. Maj. Gen. Akram Rajoub described to Arab News the situation in the city and refugee camp as “very tense,” adding that people there were angry.
“The Israeli occupation army’s incursion into the camp and the city this morning had no justification as they did not arrest anyone and did not enter a house as in the previous incursions. They deliberately shot with the aim of killing and wounding, perhaps to satisfy Israeli public opinion,” he added.
Videos circulated online showed smoke rising from the center of the Jenin refugee camp as gunfire echoed in the background. Others appeared to show Israeli soldiers and Palestinian gunmen moving through the narrow streets.
Israeli soldiers also fired tear gas in the vicinity of Jenin Government Hospital and entered its emergency department.
Rajoub said the Israeli forces, which stayed for a short time in the camp and the city, opened fire indiscriminately at civilians in the streets, injuring them and preventing ambulances from giving them treatment.
The camp was the scene of one of the deadliest battles of the Second Intifada. In April 2002, Israeli forces fought Palestinian fighters in the camp for nearly three weeks. Twenty-three Israeli soldiers and at least 52 Palestinians, including civilians, were killed, according to the UN.
Ziyad Al-Nakhala, secretary-general of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement, called on the members of the group’s military wing, Al-Quds Brigades, to mobilize.
“In light of the invasion of Jenin camp by the Zionist enemy army, the secretary-general of the Islamic Jihad Movement announces the general mobilization of Al-Quds Brigades in all their locations,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Force launched a spate of arrests across the West Bank early on Thursday that targeted more than 17 people.
On March 30 the Israeli Cabinet decided to cancel work permits for the relatives of Palestinians involved in violent attacks.
Israeli authorities agreed not to impose a closure on the West Bank despite various warnings of more impending attacks to coincide with the start of Ramadan on April 2.
Meanwhile, witnesses said police deployed at Al-Aqsa searched young men and prevented them from getting near extremist leader Ben-Gvir. They also stopped the Jerusalemite activist Mohammed Abu Al-Hummus and prevented him from moving into Al-Aqsa until Ben-Gvir left.
Bin-Gvir, who had announced two days ago his intention to visit Al-Aqsa every month, said during his tour: “I am here in Al-Aqsa, defying Hamas.”
The Palestinian presidency strongly condemned the killing of Palestinians and the provocative act at Al-Aqsa.
“The Israeli provocations, represented by the continuation of the incursions, the daily killings and crimes by the Israeli army and settlers will draw the region into more tension and escalation which is inconsistent with the efforts made at all levels to make the month of Ramadan, coinciding with the holidays, a quiet month,” it said in a statement.
The presidency held the occupation government fully responsible for this escalation and its repercussions, calling on the international community to take immediate action to restrain Israel and hold it accountable for its crimes.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh also warned of the dangerous repercussions of the crimes of the Israeli occupation in Jenin and Bethlehem, and of allowing settlers to storm Al-Aqsa Mosque, calling it a violation and provocation to hurt Muslims.
Tariq Ezz El-Din, the official spokesman for Islamic Jihad in the West Bank, called Ben-Gvir’s tour of Al-Aqsa “a severe violation of the mosque’s sanctity,” and a move that “heralds a new uprising among our people.”
He warned Israeli leaders of the repercussions of such dangerous steps, and urged Palestinians in Jerusalem, the West Bank, and inside Israel to confront these attempts with all force, and “travel to Al-Aqsa to defend and protect the mosque.”
The cycle of violence has continued despite efforts by King Abdullah II of Jordan to prevent it.
The king paid a visit earlier this week to Ramallah to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and senior political and security officials.
Later he received Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz and President Yitzhak Herzog in Amman.