RAMALLAH: Five Palestinians, including a 15-year-old, were killed as Israeli forces used helicopter gunships in a raid in the occupied West Bank on Monday.
The Palestinian Health Ministry identified those killed in Jenin as Khaled Asasa, 21, Qassam Abu Sariya, 29, Qais Jabarin, 21, Ahmed Daraghmeh,19, and 15-year-old Ahmed Yousef Saqer.
The assault also wounded 66 Palestinians, 10 of them seriously, during the incursion into the outskirts of the Jenin camp at dawn, according to the Health Ministry.
Media reported that five Apache helicopters were used in the attack, the first such use of gunships in the occupied West Bank since the second Palestinian uprising two decades ago.
Reports said that 250 Israeli military vehicles took part in the incursion, as well as transport helicopters used to ferry soldiers and drones for surveillance and reconnaissance.
Jordan condemned the Israeli escalation and called for an immediate halt of the continuous assault on Palestinian cities.
A general strike spread throughout the city of Jenin and its camp to protest at Israeli aggression.
High school students could not reach their final exams due to the heavy presence of the army forces on the outskirts of Jenin camp and on the streets of the city.
The Fatah movement also announced a comprehensive strike in Ramallah to mourn those killed, and called on citizens to protest at Israeli military checkpoints.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said the Israeli army prevented Palestinian ambulances from rescuing the wounded and opened fire at them.
The Israeli military claimed that seven soldiers were injured when a 40kg bomb exploded under one of its armored vehicles. Reports in Israel said that gunships were called in when military transport helicopters came under fire.
The Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas operatives in the Jenin refugee camp, claimed it carried out the bombing.
Israeli security sources claim that 20 armed cells operate in the northern West Bank, Jenin, Nablus and Tulkarem.
Israeli officials have also spoken of a plan to invade the cities of Nablus and Jenin for several days to eliminate the suspected armed groups.
Walid Masharqa, a resident of the Jenin camp, told Arab News that he had witnessed “a very bloody day”.
Israeli forces used a bulldozer to destroy an electricity transformer and cut power to the Jenin camp. The blackout prevented Palestinian fighters from communicating and coordinating movements against Israeli forces.
Life was “paralyzed and disrupted,” he said, adding that students could not get to school and adults got not get to work, leading to an atmosphere of “sadness, anger, and frustration.”
“This invasion, destruction, and use of excessive force without justification reminded us of the Jenin camp invasion in 2002,” he said.
Mansour Al-Saadi, deputy governor of Jenin, told Arab News that life had stopped in Jenin.
“Only the sound of Israeli drones hovering in the air and the sound of ambulances transporting the wounded to the city's three hospitals are heard,” he told Arab News.
“The people fear that the Israeli army forces will shoot them as they leave the city and the camp,” he added.
Mohammed Kamil, general manager of the Jenin Chamber of Commerce, told Arab News that the city's economy had been stunted by repeated military incursions, as Palestinians living in Israel stopped visiting to take advantage of cheaper goods.
“When it comes to their lives and their safety, Palestinians from the Galilee and the Triangle inside Israel prefer to preserve their lives by not coming to Jenin to shop for clothes or have a meal in a restaurant,” Kamil told Arab News.
There are around 18,000 people in the camp. The city has a population of 50,000.
