UPDATE – 6 Palestinians killed, others injured by Israeli army fire in West Bank

UPDATES DEATH TOLL, ADDS MORE DETAILS, REVISES HEADLINE

By Awad Rajoub

JENIN, Palestine (AA) – Six Palestinians were killed and several others injured by Israeli army fire during a military raid near the West Bank city of Jenin on Tuesday, according to the Health Ministry.

The victims, aged between 21 and 32, were killed in the town of Kafr Dan near Jenin, the ministry said in a statement.

An Israeli special force raided the town Tuesday evening, surrounded and hit a house with anti-tank grenades, the state news agency Wafa reported.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said early Tuesday that one person had been killed and two others injured in the raid.

Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad group, said its fighters engaged in “intense armed clashes” with Israeli forces after discovering a special unit had infiltrated the town.

An Israeli military statement said a special unit killed four armed Palestinians in Kafr Dan during an operation to “thwart terrorist activities.”

According to the statement, forces surrounded a building used by gunmen, killing four and wounding two others during an exchange of fire.

Tensions have been running high across the West Bank since Israel launched a deadly military offensive against the Gaza Strip after an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7 last year.

At least 538 Palestinians have since been killed and nearly 5,200 others injured by Israeli army fire in the occupied territory, according to the Health Ministry.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which in its latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio