At least 13 Palestinians have been injured, two of them seriously, after Israeli forces fired bullets, missile and tear gas during a raid of the Aqbat Jabr refugee camp in Jericho city in the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
The Israeli forces fired an anti-tank guided missile during the raid, according to Israeli radio.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society accused Israel of blocking access to ambulances. They were eventually allowed to treat the wounded after the operation ended.
Al Jazeera’s Bernard Smith, reporting from the West Bank city of Ramallah, said the five-hour raid was “a continuation” of the incident from last Saturday in Jenin, near Jericho.
“Jericho, a city of 37,000 people, has been essentially closed off by the Israeli military for a week as Israeli forces hunted for suspects in a drive-by shooting near an illegal Israeli settlement not far from Jericho.
“The Israeli forces have arrested 10 people which among them, we understand, were the suspects wanted for that shooting,” Smith said.
Saturday’s raid comes a week after Israeli forces killed nine Palestinians in Jenin refugee camp, the largest military raid on the camp in the northern occupied West Bank since 2002.
“This comes really as part of a very violent beginning of the year in the occupied West Bank – 36 Palestinians have been killed so far,” Al Jazeera’s Smith said.
“And all of this on the back of this new far-right Israeli government – which has a cabinet minister in it, elected by settlers determined to advance the settlement project in the occupied West Bank and make life even harder for Palestinians than it already is.”
