IDF continues 30-hour Jenin operation; 7 Palestinians said killed in fighting
Hundreds detained, weapons seized and tunnels and war rooms raided; 4 soldiers hospitalized with minor injuries caused by shrapnel from controlled explosion
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
The IDF continued a more than 30-hour operation in the West Bank city of Jenin on Tuesday, during which troops detained hundreds of suspects and seized weapons.
The reservist troops and Border Police officers have so far scanned around 400 buildings in the Jenin refugee camp, the IDF said in a statement.
Schools in the area were shuttered and students were switched to distance learning in light of the fighting, the official Palestinian news outlet WAFA said.
As the operation began on Tuesday, an IDF drone strike killed four Palestinian terror operatives who had hurled explosive devices toward troops carrying out an arrest raid, the army and Palestinian officials both stated.
The military published footage showing the drone strike and the hurling of explosives that preceded it.
According to the IDF, troops have so far detained hundreds of wanted Palestinians for questioning and seized more than 30 weapons, ammunition, and other equipment.
The IDF publishes footage showing a drone strike against a group of armed Palestinians who were hurling explosives at troops during a raid in the West Bank's Jenin. The Palestinian Authority health ministry reported four killed. pic.twitter.com/0DtjmJQa1Q
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) December 12, 2023
The army said four soldiers were injured by shrapnel following a controlled explosion. They were hospitalized with minor injuries.
The statement added that the forces also destroyed six labs used by local terror groups to manufacture explosive devices, along with numerous explosive devices, several tunnel shafts, and four war rooms used by operatives to observe IDF operations.
On Wednesday morning, a Palestinian man died of wounds sustained in clashes with the IDF a day prior. It was unknown if he was a gunman.
Palestinian officials later reported on the deaths of another two people — bringing the death toll to seven — a man who was shot in the leg and an ill 13-year-old boy, both of whom they said died after being prevented from reaching a hospital.
In a scene filmed by gathered press, the boy’s father was seen carrying him to the hospital on foot in a bid to get him treatment.
There was no immediate comment from the IDF.
Ahmed Mohammad Sammar (13 years old), a sick #child, was martyred after the #Israeli occupation obstructed his access to receive treatment at Martyr Khalil Suleiman #Hospital during the aggression on Jenin and its Camp. This raised the death toll of #martyrs in the city to seven… pic.twitter.com/LRk5vNwVe9
— State of Palestine – MFA ???????????????? (@pmofa) December 12, 2023
The IDF has said that troops continue to operate in the Jenin area. Elsewhere in the West Bank, the IDF detained 17 wanted Palestinians and seized firearms.
Since the October 7 onslaught by Hamas against Israel, troops have arrested over 2,000 wanted Palestinians across the West Bank, including more than 1,100 affiliated with Hamas. According to the Palestinian Authority health ministry, some 280 West Bank Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces, and in a few cases settlers.
Based on military estimates, the vast majority of the 280 Palestinians killed since October 7 were shot dead during clashes amid arrest raids, and many of them, according to data seen by The Times of Israel, were armed with either a firearm or an explosive device.
The IDF is aware of at least three cases of uninvolved Palestinians being killed by troops in recent weeks, and a handful of cases of settlers killing Palestinians, which are still under investigation.
