Israeli troops kill nine Palestinians in the West Bank in the worst clashes in years

Nine Palestinians, including a 60-year-old woman,

and some 15 wounded on Thursday in an Israeli military incursion into the northern West Bank during which

of a hospital, Palestinian authorities said.

The violence occurred during what Palestinian health officials described as

in the Jenin refugee camp, a stronghold of militant Palestinian resistance to Israel's occupation of the West Bank that has been the target of nearly a year of Israeli operations. .

The clashes that left the nine dead were

Destruction in Jenin, after the clashes.

Photo: EFE J

The conflict escalated this month,

It was not immediately clear how many of those killed Thursday were affiliated with armed groups.

Netanyahu's new government

The operation came weeks after the inauguration of the new Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,

, who promised a hard line against the Palestinians and accelerated the construction of settlements on land that the Palestinians occupy and that they they claim to found their state.

It also comes days before US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is due to arrive in the region to push for measures that

"The situation in the Jenin (Palestinian refugee) camp is critical," Health Minister Mai Al Kaila said in a statement.

In all, nine people were killed, including a 60-year-old woman, and fifteen were injured, four of them seriously, during the Israeli attack, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

Israeli forces "deliberately threw tear gas grenades" into the pediatric ward of a Jenin hospital, "causing

," the Palestinian minister added.

Damaged buildings in Jenin after the Israeli raid.

Photo: EFE

The Israeli military said on Telegram that security forces carried out an operation in the Jenin refugee camp and would provide details later.

According to the Red Cross, the evacuation of many wounded was difficult, Minister Al Kaila said.

The Palestinian official called for an "emergency meeting" to be held with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

"The Israeli army

," Jenin deputy governor Kamal Abu Al Rub told the AFP news agency, adding that residents live

"What is happening in Jenin and in its countryside is a massacre perpetrated by the Israeli occupation government," said Nabil Abu Rudeina, spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmud Abbas.

Palestinians throw stones during clashes with Israeli soldiers.

Photo: EFE t

With the deaths on Thursday, the number of Palestinians, civilians or members of armed groups, killed since the beginning of the year in acts of violence with Israeli forces or civilians rises to 29.

On Wednesday, two Palestinian youths, including a teenager, were killed by Israeli security forces agents, according to the Palestinian Authority.

One died after trying to stab a soldier and the other in clashes with police, according to Israel.

The Israeli Army, which

, carries out

in that Palestinian territory, particularly in the north in the Jenin and Nablus sectors,

According to an AFP count, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has cost the lives of more than

AFP

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