Child, journalists injured in Israeli army’s West Bank raid on Balata refugee camp

​​​​​​​By Awad Rajoob and Mohammad Sio

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) - A Palestinian child and two journalists were injured Wednesday when Israeli forces targeted them in a predawn raid on the Balata refugee camp in the northern West Bank.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said its crews transported a 14-year-old boy from the camp to a hospital after he was struck in the face by a gas canister.

Two journalists suffered suffocation from inhaling tear gas fired by soldiers at them while covering the incursion, an Anadolu correspondent reported, citing witnesses.

At dawn, a large Israeli force with soldiers and armored vehicles stormed the camp in eastern Nablus, searching homes and converting some into military outposts, witnesses told Anadolu.

Witnesses added that soldiers forced families to flee their homes and leave the camp under duress.

The Israeli army has continued a deadly offensive in the northern West Bank since January, killing tens of Palestinians and displacing thousands.

Tensions have been high in the West Bank, where at least 947 Palestinians have been killed and more than 7,000 injured since October 2023, according to Palestinian figures.

The International Court of Justice declared last July that Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian land was illegal and demanded the evacuation of all existing settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.​​​​​​​