An Israeli army raid killed three Palestinians early Thursday morning in the Jenin camp, a hotbed of tension in the northern occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said.
"
Three martyrs were killed by Israeli occupation bullets during a dawn operation against the Jenin camp
", a stronghold of the Palestinian armed factions, the ministry said, without identifying the Palestinians killed for the moment. .
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Contacted by AFP, the Israeli army did not immediately comment on this information.
And local witnesses told AFP that the Israeli raid was over.
More than 40 Palestinians have been killed during Israeli operations this year in the Jenin area alone, including many fighters but also star Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.
The Jenin raid comes against the backdrop of an upsurge in recent months and weeks of tensions in the West Bank, Palestinian territory occupied since 1967 by Israel, which has deployed settlements there where more than 475,000 people live today.
On Wednesday, a Palestinian suspected by Israel of being involved in an attack on soldiers near the settlement of Ofra, was killed on Wednesday by Israeli forces after a chase.
A “martyr”
Mujahid Mahmoud Hamed, 32, was also suspected of being behind attacks in recent days, according to the army.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement issued a statement with a photo of Hamed and a gun, calling him a "
martyr
".
Family members told AFP he spent 11 years in an Israeli prison, from which he was released about a year ago.
Since a wave of anti-Israeli attacks last spring, Israeli forces have carried out more than 2,000 raids in the West Bank, operations that frequently result in clashes with the population or local fighters.
At least 150 Palestinians and 26 Israelis have been killed since the start of the year in the West Bank, Israel and Jerusalem.
Israel has occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem since the Six Day War in 1967.
The US State Department also said last Friday "
seriously concerned about the intensification of violence in the West Bank
", the scene of its deadliest violence in seven years according to the UN.
The West Bank has reached the "
boiling point
", the UN's chief mediator for the Middle East Tor Wennesland said recently.
