Soldier killed in fierce clashes in Jenin as IDF presses major West Bank operation
Locals say they do not have access to water and electricity; Israel says at least 26 gunmen killed during operation; Palestinian terror groups have claimed 13 as their own
An Israeli soldier was killed and three others were wounded during fierce clashes with Hamas gunmen in the West Bank city of Jenin on Saturday morning, the Israel Defense Forces said.
The IDF has been carrying out a major raid in the northern West Bank since early Wednesday. The action was now largely focusing on the Jenin area, after raids in Tulkarem and the Far’a camp near Tubas concluded.
The slain soldier was named as Staff Sgt. Elkana Navon, 20, a squad commander in the Bislamach Brigade’s 906th Battalion, from Petah Tikva.
According to an initial IDF probe, troops carrying out a raid in Jenin encountered two gunmen, considered to be prominent members of the Hamas terror group. The soldiers exchange fire with the two terror operatives from close range, killing both of them.
Four soldiers were hit by the gunmen, including Navon who later died. One of the wounded troops, an officer, was listed in serious condition.
During the raid on the Jenin refugee camp on Saturday, the IDF said troops neutralized dozens of explosive devices that were planted along the roads.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi held an assessment in Jenin on Saturday amid the operation. He was joined by the head of the Central Command, Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, the commander of the West Bank division, Brig. Gen. Yaki Dolf, and the commander of the Menashe Regional Brigade, Col. Ayub Kayuf.
“We are dismantling the terrorism that comes from the refugee camps in Judea and Samaria,” Halevi was quoted by the IDF as saying.
“We are cut off from the world,” Taher al-Saadi, a Jenin resident, told AFP.
“The water is cut off. The electricity is cut off, the sewage system is no longer working. All the infrastructure is destroyed, we no longer have any services that work.
“The bakeries are at a standstill. We can’t find milk for the children.”
“I think it’s the worst day since the start of the raid,” Wisam Bakr, director of Jenin Government Hospital, told AFP of the IDF’s operations on Saturday. “We hear from time to time clashes and sometimes there is big bombing.”
“It’s very hard, for the children and for everyone. We are afraid, we are terrified, look at all the damage,” Jenin resident Faiza Abu Jaafar told AFP as she stood amid piles of rubble. “We are living in dark days.”
Jenin Governor Kamal Abu al-Rub told AFP that he does not know exactly what is happening inside the camp, where the latest fighting appeared to be concentrated.
“The Israelis are besieging the hospitals and cutting off the city from the refugee camp, which has become a military zone with no access,” he alleged.
“Neither the civil defense, nor the ambulances, nor the journalists can go and see what is happening there.”
Israel has long said the camp is a hotbed of terror activity, and has moved in to make arrests and dismantle terror infrastructure from time to time.
The IDF has denied cutting off access to hospitals, saying it has positioned its forces to prevent terrorists from gathering in them while allowing ambulances to come and go.
So far amid the major operation launched earlier this week, the IDF says troops have killed at least 26 gunmen and detained another 30 wanted Palestinians. The terror groups Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad have claimed 13 of those killed as their members, according to AFP.
The situation in the West Bank was further escalated late Friday night when two car bombs exploded in the Gush Etzion area south of Jerusalem. Three Israelis were hurt.
The IDF said it killed two terrorists in the attacks. Hamas and PIJ praised the attacks but did not claim direct responsibility for them. Police said the bombings appeared to have been coordinated.
Two Palestinian terrorists — Muhammad Marqa and Zahdi Afifa, from Hebron — were killed at the scene of the explosion by Israeli forces, and six other Palestinians were detained on suspicion of assisting them.
Tensions in the West Bank have been high since the October 7 Hamas massacre, which saw terrorists from Gaza infiltrate Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 251.
Since October 7, troops have arrested some 5,000 wanted Palestinians across the West Bank, including more than 2,000 affiliated with Hamas.
According to the Palestinian Authority health ministry, more than 670 West Bank Palestinians have been killed in that time. The IDF says the vast majority of them were gunmen killed in exchanges of fire, rioters who clashed with troops or terrorists carrying out attacks.
During the same period, 27 people, including Israeli security personnel, have been killed in terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank. Another six members of the security forces were killed in clashes with terror operatives in the West Bank — including in Saturday’s incident.
