The Palestinian Ministry of Health reported that Israeli forces killed two Palestinians, including a teenager, on Monday in the West Bank city of Jenin, which has been the site of repeated military raids. The Israeli military, when contacted by AFP, stated that it was 'looking into the reports.' In a statement, the Ramallah-based health ministry confirmed that the two Palestinians were 'shot dead by the occupation army.'
Violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank has escalated alongside the conflict in Gaza. Jenin, a stronghold of Palestinian militant groups, has been the focus of large-scale Israeli raids since late August. Governor of Jenin, Kamal Abu al-Rub, said Israeli soldiers surrounded a house in the Jenin refugee camp adjacent to the city earlier Monday.
'The occupation (Israeli) soldiers climbed on the roofs of the houses and started shooting at anything that moved, resulting in the martyrdom of a minor and a young man in his 20s,' he told AFP. The official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that one of the deceased was a 17-year-old boy.
Major Israeli raids in Jenin, as well as Nur Shams and Balata, continued into September, resulting in the deaths of 36 Palestinians according to the United Nations and the Palestinian Authority. 'What is happening to the city of Jenin and its camp are systematic attacks aimed at destroying what we rebuild after each attack,' Rub said. 'Today, the occupation army destroyed streets. This is the 14th time since October 7 that the occupation has destroyed what we have rebuilt.'
Violence in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, has surged since October 7. Since then, at least 737 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli soldiers or settlers in the West Bank, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
