A new episode in the outbreak of tensions at the start of the year. At least five Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army in Jericho, in the occupied West Bank, on Monday February 6. Israeli soldiers are holding five bodies, an Israeli security official told AFP. Hamas, in a press release, confirms that several of its fighters have been killed and denounces a “abominable massacre” but does not advance a quantified balance sheet.
The Israeli army, in a statement, claims to have carried out an “anti-terrorist” action aimed at arresting Hamas members suspected of being the perpetrators of an attack carried out on January 28 in an Israeli settlement near Jericho: two armed men s approached a restaurant and one of them opened fire, but his gun jammed after a single shot before they fled. No one had been injured. Since then, the army had reinforced its presence and increased checks around Jericho, which the local Palestinian authorities denounced as a “seat”.
Nearly 50 dead on both sides since the beginning of the year
The Israeli raid on Monday morning took place at the entrance to the Palestinian refugee camp of Aqabat Jabr. The army claims that “several armed assailants were killed after opening fire on (soldiers)”. Hamas, for its part, evokes “an armed confrontation with the Zionist occupation”.
The Palestinian Health Ministry initially reported three injured Palestinians “by Israeli occupation bullets during the attack on Jericho”, including one in critical condition. It is unclear whether they are counted in the toll announced by the Israeli army.
Since the beginning of the year, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has claimed the lives of 41 Palestinians (among them combatants and civilians, including minors), six Israeli civilians (including a minor), and a Ukrainian woman, according to a tally from AFP based on official Israeli and Palestinian sources.