Following two deadly attacks perpetrated in two weeks in Tel Aviv by Palestinians from the Jenin region, Israeli soldiers conducted a series of operations in the West Bank on Sunday, April 10, where three Palestinians, including two women , lost their lives in different incidents.
Near Bethlehem, Ghada Sabatin, a 40-year-old widow and mother of six who was heading way “suspicious” towards soldiers despite “warning shots”succumbed to wounds inflicted by gunfire from Israeli soldiers, the army and the Palestinian health ministry said.
Late in the evening, in Al-Khader, near Bethlehem, the Israeli army announced to Agence France-Presse (AFP) that they had opened fire on a Palestinian who “thrown a Molotov cocktail” to a busy road. The young man, Mohammed Ghnaim, 21, is dead, the Palestinian health ministry and local sources confirmed.
And in Hebron, in the southern West Bank, Israeli police say they killed a Palestinian woman who stabbed and injured ” slightly “ an officer in the center of this powder keg.
“Going on the offensive”
Israeli forces, which restricted access to the Jenin camp over the weekend, said they seized stolen weapons and arrested around 20 people in operations that left around 10 injured, according to the health ministry Palestinian.
By evening, the situation remained tense in Jenin, local sources reported, citing Israeli army fire. On Saturday, a previous army operation left one dead, Ahmed Al-Saadi, a fighter with Islamic Jihad, the main armed Islamist movement after Hamas.
For his part, spokesman for the armed factions in Jenin, Abou Mouadh, said in a statement that the camp was in ” state of emergency “ and called the local fighters to a “general mobilization” to “to face an incursion” Israeli forces. Local mosques have called on people to stay at home, avoid walking the streets of the densely populated camp and not take pictures of fighters, residents said.
“The State of Israel has gone on the offensive (…) and will do whatever is necessary to defeat terrorism. We will settle accounts with all those who are linked, directly or indirectly, to the attacks.” deadly attacks that have hit Israel in recent weeks, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Sunday.
The government has also validated an investment of 360 million shekels (more than 100 million euros) to extend by 40 km the security barrier separating Israel from part of the Palestinian territories, which had been erected during the second Intifada. , Palestinian uprising of the early 2000s.
“It’s a difficult day”
Since March 22, Israel has been hit by four attacks, the first two perpetrated by Israeli Arabs linked to the Islamic State (IS) organization and the last two by Palestinians from the Jenin area. These attacks killed fourteen people in total. According to an AFP tally, thirteen Palestinians, including assailants, have been killed in violence since that same date.
The latest attack in Israel on Thursday claimed the lives of three Israelis – Eitam Megini and Tomer Morad, childhood friends in their twenties, and Barak Lufan, a 35-year-old father of three – in right in the heart of the Tel-Aviv metropolis. Thousands of Israelis gathered on Sunday to attend the funeral of the three men, which took place in the city of Kfar Saba (center) and at Kibbutz Ginosar (north). “You appeared to me yesterday in a dream telling me it was all a joke. I believed you, and then I woke up”said Tomer Morad’s girlfriend, Ariel Weinblat, during his funeral oration. “I love you, my heart is bleeding”she added.
“It’s a difficult day”Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said of the funeral, repeating that he had given carte blanche to the armed forces in their “War on Terror”. On Sunday evening, demonstrations took place in different areas of the West Bank, in support of the people of Jenin.