Nine Palestinians were killed on Thursday in an Israeli military raid in the refugee camp of Jenin, a city in the northern occupied West Bank. The Palestinian authorities have denounced a massacre “.
Salvoes of fire to accompany the deceased. ” They are martyrs that we bury say the residents of Jenin. This Thursday morning, nine people were killed in this city in the north of the occupied West Bank, during an extremely violent raid, carried out by Israeli forces. In their sights, officially, members of the Islamic Jihad organization who, according to Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, were planning an attack in Israel.
Among the victims, Palestinian fighters, but also civilians, and in particular an old lady, reports our special envoy to Jenin, Sami Boukhelifa. Her daughter says it was an Israeli soldier who targeted her. She died from a bullet in the neck. The Palestinian authorities denounce a “ massacre “. Wrapped in Palestinian flags, the dead were buried in the afternoon. ” Israel is wrong commented a man. These are criminal methods. That’s not how you get peace. Neither the Israeli people nor the Palestinians will live in peace as long as the occupation continues. »
In a statement, the office of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced that it was ending its security coordination with Israel. ” In the light of the repeated aggressions against our people and the violations of agreements signed, in particular security, we consider that the security coordination with the Israeli occupation government ceases to exist from now on. “, he writes.
Deadliest day in six months
The Palestinian Authority had already taken a similar decision in May 2020 to protest against an Israeli plan to annex parts of the West Bank, Palestinian territory occupied by the Israeli army since 1967. Security coordination between Israelis and Palestinians – inherited from the agreements Oslo peace agreement (1993) which led to the creation of the Palestinian Authority – resumed in November 2020. Its suspension had an effect in particular on the transfers of Palestinian patients to Israeli hospitals.
This day is the deadliest in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since the outbreak of violence between the Israeli army and the Islamic Jihad in Gaza during which at least 49 Palestinians, including combatants, but also civilians including children, were killed in three days of August 2022.
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The US State Department said it regretted this decision, judging ” very important that the parties maintain, and even deepen, their security coordination “. The head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, must go to Israel and the West Bank on Monday and Tuesday to insist, according to Washington, on ” the urgent need for de-escalation measures “.
(And with AFP)