Israeli forces shot and wounded seven people in a raid on Tuesday in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said as the Israeli army confirmed an operation was underway.
The ministry reported “six minor injuries from live fire” reached a governmental hospital in Jenin, while another person shot had been admitted to a nearby hospital following the raid in the northern West Bank city.
A statement from the Israeli military said “security forces are currently operating in the Jenin (refugee) camp”, without giving further details.
There was no immediate confirmation of the identity of those wounded in Jenin, a hotbed for Palestinian armed groups.
Frequent incursions by Israeli forces have led to clashes with local youth or militants, with at least 25 Palestinians killed in the city this year and no Israeli fatalities.
The latest raid comes amid a spike in violence in Israel and the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since the 1967 war.
The conflict has claimed the lives of at least 96 Palestinians, 19 Israelis, one Ukrainian and one Italian this year, according to an AFP count based on Israeli and Palestinian official sources.
The search was punctuated by a two-minute siren marking Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day, honouring more than six million Jews killed by the Nazis during World War II. Jerusalem mayor Moshe Lion, speaking at a city hall ceremony, said one of the Holocaust’s main lessons was “to never be helpless in the face of those seeking to harm us”.
Later in the morning, most of the security forces had left Sheikh Jarrah, with roads reopened and traffic flowing as normal, a journalist said.
