JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli troops killed three Palestinians, including a minor, and wounded at least 29 others during a massive gunbattle with militants in the streets of the occupied West Bank city of Jenin on Monday, Palestinian officials said. The fighting included the rare use of Israeli attack helicopters in the territory.
The escalation was the latest in more than a year of near-daily violence that has wracked the West Bank.
The Palestinian Health Ministry identified those killed as Khaled Asasa, 21, Qassam Abu Sariya, 29, and 15-year-old Ahmed Saqr, and said at least six others were seriously wounded in the shootout.
The Israeli military said troops came under fire during an arrest raid in Jenin and shot back at Palestinian gunmen. Israeli media reported that multiple Israeli troops were wounded in the fighting.
“As the security forces exited the city, a military vehicle was hit by an explosive device, damaging the vehicle,” the army said, adding that helicopters “opened fire toward the gunmen in order to assist in extraction of the forces.”
Unconfirmed amateur video footage from Jenin appeared to show an explosion targeting an Israeli armored vehicle. Another video posted online appeared to show Israeli military helicopter launching a rocket during the ongoing army operation.
The Israeli military rarely uses aircraft in its operations in the occupied West Bank. Israeli media reported that it was the first use of an attack helicopter in the territory since the Palestinian uprising in the early 2000s.
Israel and the Palestinians have been gripped by months of violence, focused mainly in the West Bank, where some 120 Palestinians have been killed this year. The city of Jenin has been a hotbed of Palestinian militancy.
Israel has been staging near-nightly raids in the West Bank in response to a spasm of Palestinian violence early last year. Palestinian attacks against Israelis have surged during that time.
Israel says most of the dead were militants, but stone-throwing youths protesting the incursions and others not involved in confrontations have also been killed.
Palestinian attacks against Israelis have killed at least 20 people this year.
