Israel conducts brutal raids and air strikes on Jenin refugee camp killing four

An Israeli operation in the Nur Shams refugee camp in the occupied West Bank on Thursday killed four people, the Palestinian Red Crescent said, as residents in Jenin declared a strike following Wednesday's drone attack.

"Palestine Red Crescent ambulance teams have just transported an 18-year-old young man who was killed by the Israeli occupation forces in Nur Shams camp," the group said on X, formerly Twitter, adding his death brought the toll to four.

Two of the four Palestinians were killed by an air strike and two by live bullets, the Red Crescent said.

The men were named as Ahmad Marwan Mahammad Abu Ali, 22, and Abdullah Mahmoud Al-Qaisi, 20, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa. Their bodies were transferred to the Thabet Thabet Governmental Hospital in Tulkarm.

Nidal Mamoun Abu Obaid, 23, and Iyad Nidal Azmi Kanouh, 19, were killed after an Israeli drone struck a building the Al-Manshiya neighborhood in Nur Shams camp.

The Red Crescent Society said that it was blocked from entering the camp to treat the two men for over an hour and a half.

Israeli forces involved in the operation withdrew from the camp in the morning, AFP journalists reported.

The Israeli army told AFP it was checking the death toll.

The military told AFP earlier Thursday that it had been carrying out an operation in the Palestinian refugee camp of Nur Shams, which adjoins the town of Tulkarem in the northern West Bank.

DAY (10) - Ramadan: IAF struck a vehicle in Jenin RC and assassinated three Palestinians.

Update: 13 Palestinians killed by ISF since the beginning of Ramadan (3 in Jerusalem & 10 in WB).https://t.co/YmAjjmU4DK pic.twitter.com/ZLzuXlzoNu

— Local Focus - Security Alerts (@LocalFocus1) March 20, 2024

"During the operation, an aircraft struck two terrorists who posed an immediate threat to the forces," the Israeli army said.

In total, eight Palestinians were killed in less than 24 hours in the West Bank.

Three Palestinians were killed late Wednesday in an Israeli strike on a car in Jenin, which has long been a flashpoint for clashes between the Israeli military and Palestinian factions.

Two of those killed were identified as members of the Jenin Battalion of Islamic Jihad, a militia group with branches in the West Bank and Gaza. 

It is the second drone strike Israel has conducted in the West Bank in less than a month and eyewitnesses reported that the vehicle was struck by two missiles then burst into flames.

In response to the deaths of the three men, people in Jenin said they would strike on Thursday, shutting down public and educational institutions.

Jenin… tensions

Upon the burial of the 3 Palestinians assassinated by Israeli occupation forces, a gathering of residents demanded that Jenin fighters get released from PA prisons. Confrontations erupted. Fire opened on PSF HQ, PSF returned fire

Medical teams say 5 are injured

— Younis Tirawi | يونس (@ytirawi) March 20, 2024

Tensions remained high with local sources reporting that a man was killed after he was accused of collaborating with Israel, while there were clashes between fighters and the Palestinian Authority security forces in Jenin.

Meanwhile an 18-year-old Palestinian man was shot dead by Israeli forces in the Al-Amari refugee camp near Ramallah early on Thursday.

Violence has intensified in the West Bank since the the Hamas attacks of October 7 which triggered Israel's invasion of Gaza, where nearly 32,000 people have been killed.

According to the Palestinian Authority, more than 430 Palestinians have been killed in the territory by Israeli troops or settlers since the war began.