Moon Desk: Israeli forces killed four Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem on Thursday, the Palestinian health ministry said, including an Islamic Jihad militant and a man accused by police of stabbing an officer.
The other two fatalities were shot dead by troops during West Bank raids, the ministry said. Violence in territories where Palestinians seek statehood has surged in recent months after Israel launched a crackdown in response to a spate of lethal street attacks in its cities. The security situation was among factors contributing to far-right gains in an Israeli election on Tuesday that put conservative former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on track to return to power. Pressing their crackdown, Israeli commandos raided the northern West Bank town of Jenin, killing the Islamic Jihad militant at a butchershop, locals said. His faction called the operation “a cowardly assassination”.
The health ministry said another Palestinian, Mohammad Khalouf, 14, was killed in Jenin and four others wounded. The Israeli military confirmed its forces were operating in the city but did not immediately offer further comment or confirm the two deaths.
