Palestinians say 7 killed, 9 wounded as IDF launches counter-terror op in Jenin
Palestinian media says doctor, teacher, student among the dead; military says soldiers shot gunmen, demolished home of terrorist
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
At least seven Palestinians were killed as the military launched what it said was a counter-terrorism operation in the northern West Bank city of Jenin on Tuesday morning.
The Israel Defense Forces said it had launched the operation following “intelligence information from the Shin Bet indicating the activity of armed terrorists affiliated with the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror organizations, and the presence of many terror infrastructures in the area.”
It said that troops had shot several gunmen amid clashes.
The Palestinian Authority health ministry said seven Palestinians were killed amid the raid. Another nine were wounded, including three in serious condition, the ministry said.
Wafa, the official PA news agency, said that among the dead was a doctor, Usaeed Jabareen, who worked as a surgeon at the Jenin Governmental Hospital.
A schoolteacher, Allam Jaradat, and a student were also killed, Wafa reported, citing hospital director Wissam Bakr.
Later Tuesday, the IDF said that amid the raid, troops demolished the home of Ahmed Barakat, a Palestinian terrorist involved in the killing of Meir Tamari in a shooting attack near the settlement of Hermesh in May 2023.
Barakat was killed in a drone strike in March.
Jenin is widely seen as a hotbed of terrorist activity, and the IDF regularly carries out operations there.
On Friday night, a rare Israeli airstrike in Jenin targeted a command room belonging to a local terror network and killed another terrorist also involved in the murder of Tamari, according to the military.
Since October 7, troops have arrested some 4,000 wanted Palestinians across the West Bank, including more than 1,700 affiliated with the Hamas terror group. According to the Palestinian Authority health ministry, more than 500 West Bank Palestinians have been killed in that time.
Based on military estimates, the vast majority of those killed since October 7 were shot during clashes amid arrest raids.
Agencies contributed to this report.
