Israeli drone strike kills seven Palestinians in Jenin following failed raid

Israeli forces killed seven Palestinians, including four siblings, near the Jenin refugee camp on Sunday, following a failed military raid on the area.

Six of the victims were identified by the Palestinian Health Ministry as Hazaa Najeh Darwish, 26, Rami Najeh Darwish, 22, Ahmad Najeh Darwish, 24, Alaa Hassan Darwish, 29, Rizqallah Nabil Suleiman, 18, and Mohammad Yasser Asous, 25. The seventh confirmed victim is yet to be identified.

According to local sources, the victims were killed in a drone strike outside of the Jenin camp as Israeli forces withdrew from confrontations with Palestinian fighters.

The Israeli army killed last night 6 Palestinian civilians in Jenin including 4 brothers. The attached is the photo of the 4 brothers and a video of the shock on the face of their mother. pic.twitter.com/kdZmMJZAb8

— Mustafa Barghouti @Mustafa_Barghouti (@MustafaBarghou1) January 7, 2024

“The raid began before dawn, as occupation forces entered the camp from a different part than usual, but they were spotted by local fighters from the Jenin Brigade, who ambushed them,” Shatha Hanaysheh, a resident of Jenin and local journalist, told The New Arab.

“Apparently, three improvised explosive devices were detonated at the passage of the occupation forces, killing at least one soldier and wounding three, although the Jenin Brigade announced that there were two soldiers killed”, said Hanaysheh. The Israeli army admitted the death of one female soldier.

“While they were withdrawing, already outside the camp on the road to Qabatya, some young men threw improvised explosives at them. Minutes later, an occupation drone fired a missile at a group of civilians who were sitting around fire on the Qabatya roundabout, outside of the camp, and killed seven of them,” Hanaysheh said.

They’re all gone? I have no one? Says the mother of Ahmad, Rami, Hazza’ & Alaa who were killed tonight in Jenin alongside 2 of their cousins. You don’t need to speak Arabic to hear her pain. pic.twitter.com/S8tEmTVNAY

— Nour Odeh 🇵🇸 #NojusticeNopeace (@nour_odeh) January 7, 2024

“Following the strike, people were gathering the bodies of the victims, some of whom were missing parts”, she described. “A man in his fifties was carrying a plastic bag with the rests of his son, and later a woman in her late fifties stormed into the Jenin hospital to see her four sons and discovered that they were all killed, and fainted under the shock.”

Jenin residents believe the attack was motivated by vengeance over the death of the soldier, with no strategic purpose, according to Hanaysheh. 

Local factions and civil associations called on a general strike for Sunday, which is currently observed in the city and the governorate. Hundreds of Palestinians mourned six of the victims through the streets of the city before laying them to rest in the camp. Later, the seventh victim was pronounced dead at the Jenin hospital.

Israeli forces have been raiding Jenin on a regular basis in recent weeks, as part of a larger ramp-up of its ongoing West Bank campaign.

With Sunday’s killings in Jenin, the number of Palestinians killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces and settlers rises to 332 since 7 October, and 527 since January.