Two children were shot dead by Israeli occupation forces during a raid in the city of Jenin in the northern West Bank, on Wednesday, the Palestinian health ministry and a camp official said.
The Palestinian Authority’s news agency, Wafa, said the two were Adam al-Ghoul, 8, and Basil Abu al-Wafa, 15.
Mohammed Sabbagh, the head of a leadership council in Jenin, said two members of armed groups were also killed during a raid by Israeli forces that began Tuesday night. Mr. Sabbagh said Israeli forces had surrounded the gunmen’s homes before they were killed. He added that Israeli forces had been searching homes in some parts of the area raided. That area, known as the Jenin refugee camp, was established in 1953 to house Palestinians displaced in the founding of Israel, and has become an urban environment known for fierce opposition to Israel.
Asked to comment on the raid, the Israeli military said “a number of suspects hurled explosive devices” toward its soldiers. “The soldiers responded with live fire toward the suspects and hits were identified,” it added.
Wafa said that Israeli forces had also made a number of arrests at the camp, and that the Israeli forces’ bulldozers had demolished some infrastructure, including water, electricity and sewage networks.
Israeli forces also killed seven Palestinians, including two minors and at least one gunman, in the occupied West Bank over the weekend, Reuters reported. The Israeli military said in a statement at the time that “five terrorists have been eliminated” and that it had detained 21 people.
Tensions have risen in the West Bank since Hamas launched terrorist attacks from Gaza, the Palestinian territory it controls, on Oct. 7, in which 1,200 people were killed in southern Israel and roughly 240 were taken hostage, according to Israeli officials. Israel retaliated with bombardments and a ground invasion in Gaza, and more than 13,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gazan health authorities.
Since Oct. 7, Israeli security forces have carried out daily raids in the West Bank and increased restrictions on Palestinian residents in some areas of the territory. Violence against Palestinians by Israeli settlers in the West Bank has also reached record highs, according to the United Nations. Israeli forces have arrested hundreds of Palestinians, according to Palestinian and Israeli accounts.
Hiba Yazbek contributed reporting from Jerusalem, and Johnatan Reiss from Tel Aviv.
