It was to be a simple incursion into the West Bank, as the Israeli army carries out every day in this occupied territory. But Monday, June 19, the entry of soldiers into Jenin, in the northern West Bank, sparked clashes of rare intensity. After arresting two Palestinians at dawn, near the refugee camp adjoining the city, the soldiers found themselves under heavy fire from armed fighters. An Israeli vehicle was damaged by an explosive device, requiring the dispatch of reinforcements and a helicopter so that the troops could be extracted from the city. Six Palestinians were killed in the raid, including a 15-year-old boy. Only one fighter has been identified among them. A seventh Palestinian was shot in the head on Monday near Bethlehem in the southern West Bank.
The Ministry of Health in Ramallah reports 91 injuries, including about 20 in serious or critical condition. Among them was a 15-year-old girl who was shot while at home, according to testimonies reported by the Haaretz newspaper. A Palestinian journalist, Hazem Nasser, was injured in the stomach as he tried to reach an ambulance – despite wearing a bulletproof vest that read “Press”. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society accused the army of blocking ambulances from reaching the wounded. One of them was even hit by an Israeli vehicle.
Seven Israeli border guards and soldiers were injured in the fighting. For the first time since the second Intifada in the early 2000s, the army used missiles fired from a helicopter in the West Bank. A general strike has been declared in the West Bank. The spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Nabil Abou Roudeina, condemned “continuous killings”.
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said he was pleased that Israel had killed “and arrested a record number of terrorists” in recent months. Despite the bloody repression it has been carrying out in the West Bank for nearly a year and a half, the Israeli army is struggling to stem the Palestinian armed resistance which is swelling, for lack of a political horizon. Minister Bezalel Smotrich, champion of the settlers, called on Twitter on Monday for a “widespread campaign” by the army in the West Bank.