Israeli Raid in West Bank Leaves Nine Palestinians Dead | IN PALESTINE

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Welcome to Bryf, your go-to source for breaking news, analysis, and commentary from around the world. I'm Kyla.

Today's headline is an Israeli raid in the West Bank that has left nine Palestinians dead. This firefight in a refugee camp brings the Palestinian death toll to 29 this month.

According to Palestinian health officials, the Israeli army entered the West Bank city of Jenin on Thursday as part of an operation targeting Palestinian militants. The army claims that they killed at least six militants in the resulting battle, however, reports of additional deaths are being examined.

An elderly Palestinian woman was also killed in the fighting, according to the Palestinian Authority Health Ministry. The Israeli army is looking into these reports.

In 2022, at least 146 Palestinians were killed by Israeli security forces in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, the highest annual toll since 2004, according to the Israeli human-rights group B’Tselem. So far this year, 29 Palestinians have been killed.

A spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called the incident “a massacre” and criticized the international community for not pressuring Israel to change its policies towards the Palestinians. Hamas, the Islamist militant group which rules Gaza, said Israel’s “killing and criminality” wouldn’t stop “the great revolutionary tide.”

The Israeli army claims that they entered the refugee camp mid-morning on Thursday after receiving intelligence that Palestinians affiliated with the Islamic Jihad militant group were planning an imminent attack. Militants opened fire on troops, who shot three of them dead, the army said. Israeli soldiers shot and killed another three armed Palestinians while surrounding and storming the building in which the militant cell had holed up. No troops were injured in the firefight.

Israeli officials say most of those killed during Operation Wavebreaker were members of militant groups or involved in violence. However, at least some appear to have been uninvolved civilians, including a teenage girl killed by Israeli fire during another raid in Jenin in mid-December.

Israel says its West Bank operations are necessary to combat the rising threat from Palestinian militant groups, especially in areas where Mr. Abbas’s Palestinian Authority, which has limited self-rule in parts of the occupied territory, has seen its grip weaken in recent months. Palestinian officials say Israeli military operations undermine their control and help fuel a cycle of violence.

Political analysts say tensions could further escalate under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new right-wing coalition government, which has vowed to take tougher measures against Palestinians aimed at curbing violence.

That's all for today's episode of Bryf. Stay tuned for more breaking news and analysis. Thank you for tuning in. This is Kyla, signing off.

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