Three dead as Israel launches rare airstrikes in raid on Jenin refugee camp | CPT PPP Coverage

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At least three Palestinians were killed as Israeli forces raided the West Bank city of Jenin overnight, carrying out rare airstrikes that were followed by a gunbattle lasting into Monday morning.

Israel targeted what it described as a “unified command centre” for militants of the Jenin Brigades in the refugee camp, in an extensive “counterterrorism effort” in the West Bank.

The military conducted airstrikes against buildings during the raid, reviving a tactic it had largely halted during the past two decades since a Palestinian uprising against Israel’s open-ended occupation slowly fizzled.

At least six drones could be seen circling over the city but the military declined to specify whether the operations included a drone strike.

The Jenin refugee camp, where hundreds of armed fighters from militant groups including Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah are based, has been hit by a series of raids since the beginning of the year.

Three Palestinians were killed and 13 sustained injuries, the Palestinian health ministry said on Monday. Three of the injured remained in a critical state, the ministry added.

The sounds of gunfire and explosives were heard across the city hours after the strike as thick black smoke billowed from houses inside the refugee camp.

“What is going on in the refugee camp is real war,” Palestinian ambulance driver Khaled Alahmad told the Reuters news agency. “There were strikes from the sky targeting the camp, every time we drive in around five to seven ambulances and we come back full with injured people.”

The Israeli military said the building targeted in the strike functioned as an “advanced observation and reconnaissance centre” and a site for weapons and explosives, along with being a communications hub for militants.

It provided an aerial photograph showing what it said was the target and which indicated the building hit was near two schools and a medical centre.

The army used helicopter gunships to help extract troops and vehicles from a raid on the city after explosives were used against forces sent in to arrest two militant suspects last month.

The Jenin camp and an adjacent town have been flashpoints of the escalating violence in the West Bank over the past 15 months.

In a separate incident, a 21-year-old Palestinian was killed by Israeli fire near the West Bank city of Ramallah, the health ministry said.

More than 140 Palestinians have been killed so far this year by Israeli fire in the West Bank, according to the Associated Press’s count, almost half of them affiliated with militant groups.

The army says that number is much higher. But civilians have also been killed, including a two-year-old in June and a 15-year-old girl in a raid on Jenin camp last week.

Last week, the UN Security Council urged Israel and the Palestinians to avoid actions that can further inflame tensions in the volatile West Bank.

The statement was backed by both the US and Russia in a moment of unity on a divisive issue, reflecting the widespread international concern at the escalating violence especially by Israeli forces and settlers.