At least 4 Palestinians were killed and 23 others were wounded in Jenin on Thursday in the occupied West Bank region, CNN reported citing the Palestinian Authority Health Ministry.
The Health Ministry stated that five of those injured are in critical condition. However, the Israeli security forces said that those neutralized were suspected of terrorist activity.
In a statement, the Israeli security forces said they “neutralized two operatives of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist organization who are suspected of significant terrorist activity.” A third person “was neutralized after he tried to attack the fighters with an iron crowbar,” the statement added, CNN reported.
During the operation, armed persons fired at the forces, and casualties were seen as a result.Hamas announced in a statement that two of the Palestinians killed in Jenin were its members, according to CNN.
“The cowardly assassination of two leaders of the resistance will not go unpunished. The occupation has tried us before, knows for sure that our response is coming and that the march of the resistance continues until liberation,” the Hamas statement read.
By ousting the Fatah authorities, the Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist group Hamas seized power in the Gaza Strip. It led to a change in authority and the de facto division of the Palestinian territories into the West Bank and Gaza, which are both under the control of the Palestinian National Authority.
Most Western nations consider Hamas to be a terrorist group. The most recent event amid a pattern of violence between Israelis and Palestinians.