Israeli forces kill four Palestinians in Jenin, including a teenager

Israeli forces killed three Palestinians, including a teenager, on Thursday, in a military raid on the occupied northern West Bank city of Jenin, reported the Palestinian health ministry.

The victims were identified as Yousef Saleh Shreim, 29, Nidal Amin Khazem, 28, and Omar Awadin, 16, and Louay Khalil Al-Zghir, 37.

The 'Jenin Brigade,' a local armed resistance group, confirmed in a statement that both Yousef Shreim and Nidal Khazem were among its fighters, while residents said that Omar Awadin was only passing by.

شُهداء جنين ، 16.3.2023 :
- الشهيد يوسف صالح شريم ، 29 عاماً.
- الشهيد نضال أمين خازم ، 28 عاماً.
- الشهيد عمر عوادين ،16 عاماً.
- الشهيد لؤي خليل الزغير ، 37 عاماً.

الشُهداء مش أرقام ، المجد للشُهداء. pic.twitter.com/6wPy0uOZq6

— Raghad🇵🇸 (@raghadm48) March 16, 2023

The Israelis had "carried out a cowardly assassination of resistance fighters," a Jenin Brigade statement said. The Islamist group Hamas - which controls the Gaza Strip - claimed a second man as its member.

Videos on social media appeared to show armed men in civilian clothes running along a shop-lined road on which two male figures can be seen lying next to toppled motorcycles.

#عاجل|| مجزرة في وضح النهار وفي قلب #جنين!!!
ثلاثة شهداء تم اغتيالهم في جريمة مروعة وسط السوق العام في جنين!!!

جريمة مروعة، يدخل الصهاينة بالزي المدني يرتكبون جريمتهم على طريقة العصابات ويخرجون!!! هذا تطور مروع وخطير.. pic.twitter.com/2IMaeKrzTt

— أدهم أبو سلمية #غزة 🇵🇸 (@adham922) March 16, 2023

محاصرة مركبة القوات الخاصة في وسط #جنين وإطلاق نار عشوائي كاد أن يتسبب بمجزرة حقيقية. pic.twitter.com/Mpxuxs2oBx

— عياش (@Ayashkvck) March 16, 2023

One graphic video appeared to show a man shooting one of the prone figures in the head. Other footage showed scores of youths, some throwing furniture or rocks, converging on a car before scattering as shots ring out.

"The occupation forces entered the most crowded street in the city's commercial area at around midday and directly opened fire at Khazem and Shreim, who were having some knafeh at a local patisserie," Najat Butmeh, a resident of Jenin, said to The New Arab.

"I was coming back to the camp and I passed through the same street minutes before the raid happened, then I saw people running, and then the news began to circulate that three young men were killed by the occupation," she described.

"Nidal Khazem was from the refugee camp, from a family that has lost many members to the occupation," said Butmeh. "He had dropped out of university and began to work some years ago, but nobody knew that he was involved in the resistance." 

"Yousef Shreim was from Jenin city and he was a friend of Nidal, but the other boy, Omar Awadin, was just passing by when the occupation forces were withdrawing, shooting at everything in their way," she added.

Local sources reported that young Palestinian men threw stones at Israeli forces while they withdrew, while Israeli forces fired live bullets. The Palestinian Red Crescent reported that 18 were wounded during the raid.

Jenin has been targeted by Israeli raids repeatedly in recent weeks.

In late January, Israeli forces killed 11 Palestinians including a 61-year-old woman, in a raid into Jenin that was described by residents as the most violent attack since the invasion of the city in 2022.

In early March, Israeli forces raided Jenin again and killed six Palestinians. Residents described it as "a new massacre".

Last week, Israeli forces killed three Palestinian fighters from the Jenin Brigade in an ambush in the village of Jabaa, outside of Jenin city.

Israeli escalation has killed 78 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank alone since the beginning of the year, according to the Palestinian health ministry.