Israeli forces launch deadly raids in occupied West Bank

Casualties mounting, with at least four Palestinians – including two minors – killed and dozens wounded.

Israeli forces have killed at least four people, including two minors, in raids on multiple locations in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian officials reported on Wednesday.

Israeli forces shot dead a 13-year-old boy, identified as Rami al-Halhuli, in the Shu’fat refugee camp in occupied East Jerusalem on Tuesday evening. The Israeli Border Police said he had fired fireworks at them.

Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir expressed support for Israeli soldiers amid outrage over the killing.

“I salute the fighter who killed the terrorist,” Ben-Gvir posted on X.

However, witnesses say the slain Palestinian teen had shot the fireworks upwards into the air, not at the Israeli forces, Al Jazeera’s Laura Khan reported from occupied East Jerusalem.

“Witness accounts have corroborated two videos that we’ve seen. One is of the boy shooting the fireworks up in the air, not in the vicinity of the Israeli soldiers. And the other is of him shot, lying on the ground, and his mother is seen devastated,” Khan said.

“The mosque there has said they are going to declare a day of mourning tomorrow and a strike where all businesses will be closed in order for people to mourn his death.”

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said it treated five others wounded by Israeli fire.

لحظة تفجير عبوة ناسفة بآلية إسرائيلية في جنين#حرب_غزة #فيديو pic.twitter.com/61XIK2U1fs

— الجزيرة فلسطين (@AJA_Palestine) March 13, 2024

Translation: The moment an explosive device was detonated by an Israeli vehicle in Jenin.

Overnight Israeli raids were also reported in the town of Anabta, east of Tulkarem, where shots were fired, and in the village of Burin, south of Nablus, where Israeli forces attacked a vehicle wounding a 35-year-old man and his three-month-old child.

The Israeli police claimed they shot five men near the town of al-Jib, northwest of Jerusalem, as they were throwing Molotov cocktails.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health said 23-year-old Zaid Ward Shukri Khalifa and 16-year-old Abdullah Mamoun Hassan Assaf were killed, according to the Wafa news agency. The three other men shot are being treated at the Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah.

“Border Guard fighters noticed 5 terrorists who had ignited Molotov cocktails and intended to throw them at drivers, endangering their lives. They opened fire on them, then arrested them and referred them for medical treatment,” the Israeli police posted on its Arabic account on X.

Israeli forces also stormed the grounds of the Jenin Government Hospital, shooting one Palestinian man dead and wounding five others, Wafa reported. The victim, Rabie al-Noursi, was in his 20s, the agency said.

A Wafa correspondent reported that Israeli forces stormed the hospital’s yard and opened fire at a group of civilians who were standing in front of the emergency department.

The killing followed multiple raids across the city of Jenin and the Jenin refugee camp. Dozens of Israeli military vehicles and bulldozers, supported by drones and an undercover special unit, took part in the raid in the early hours of Wednesday, Wafa said.

Violence has surged in the occupied West Bank since Hamas’ October 7 attack triggered the war in Gaza. At least 427 Palestinians have been killed there, mostly during confrontations with Israeli forces, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Israeli-Palestinian tensions often soar during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which began Sunday, over access to Al Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem.