Israel claims to have killed Palestinian attackers as Jenin raid continues

Israel says it has killed two gunmen suspected of carrying out a shooting spree that killed three Israelis in the occupied West Bank earlier this month.

Qutaiba Shalabi and Mohammed Nazzal were killed Wednesday evening after a violent shootout with Israeli forces in Burqin, near the northern West Bank city of Jenin.

The Palestinian Health Ministry says their bodies were taken away by Israeli forces and the house they were in was demolished.

Hamas issued a statement presenting them as its fighters.

Israel has been carrying out a major military operation in and around Jenin since Tuesday.

Military vehicles control the entry of medical personnel and ambulances to the main hospital and block access to the Jenin refugee camp, which houses both civilians and Palestinian armed groups.

Twelve Palestinians were reportedly killed during the operation, including Shalabi and Nazzal, and dozens more were injured.

Israel says it wants to destroy armed groups here – supported by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad – and prevent them from carrying out attacks on Israeli targets.

She fears that the West Bank could become the next center of Iranian influence and weapons.

But a show of force here after the ceasefire in Gaza also pleases those in Israel who not only want to continue the war there, but also annex the West Bank.

Some of those killed in Jenin are believed to be civilians.

Ahmed al-Shayeb owned a mobile phone store – a well-known businessman, not a fighter, according to locals.

He was shot dead by Israeli forces while driving on a road near the Jenin refugee camp, with his son Taym, 10, in the car.

“They started shooting and a bullet hit him,” Taym told reporters at his father’s funeral on Wednesday.

“He said ‘God, God,’ and then the car hit the curb. I saw two army vehicles coming towards us. They started shooting towards the car, but I jumped out and ran away. ran away.”

The Israeli military says the incident is under investigation.

The roads leading to the Jenin camp, some destroyed by military bulldozers, are guarded by small groups of soldiers who raised their weapons as we approached.

Heavy fighting was reported inside the camp Tuesday evening, and by Wednesday many residents were trying to leave.

One man told us how residents were separated by the army into groups of five, before being controlled by a drone, then arrested or allowed to leave.

We spotted a small group of adults and children making their way among the soldiers, over broken dirt and concrete, one man lifting his baby high above his head.

He told us that military bulldozers had reached the middle of the camp and that he feared the operation was about to begin in earnest.

“There are still a lot of people inside the camp – old people, sick people and children,” he said. “They can’t leave. God help them.”

He said this raid was different from the many other raids carried out by Israel since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which sparked the war in Gaza.

“This time it’s different: they’re hitting everywhere. It’s like in Gaza,” he said.

At his side, Kefah Sehwal, 52, says he has lost 15 members of his family since then.

“After what happened to (Israeli forces) in Gaza, the reaction is there,” she told me. “They’re coming after us.”

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz spoke of a “change in strategy” for the operation, saying the lesson from Gaza is not just to “eliminate the terrorists,” as he put it. said, but to prevent their return.

This plan did not work in Gaza. It is not clear whether this will work in Jenin.