JENIN,
West Bank, March 14 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Five
Palestinians were killed early Friday, March 14, in an Israeli raid on a
refugee camp in the northern West Bank town of Jenin, upping the death
toll among Palestinians to 10 in less than 24 hours.
Special
army units backed up by some 30 armored vehicles and jeeps and two
assault helicopters surrounded a house inside the battered camp where
the five Palestinians had holed up and reportedly opened fire on them,
Palestinian security sources said, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
They
said four of the Palestinians were members of the Islamic Jihad
resistance movement and the fifth belonged to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs
Brigades linked to the Fatah movement of Palestinian leader Yasser
Arafat.
Late
Thursday, March 13, another five Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli
occupation troops during fierce clashes in the northern West Bank,
Palestinian security sources and the army said.
Palestinian
security sources said the five were shot dead by Israeli troops during
heavy clashes that broke out as the Israeli army pushed into the town of
Tammun, some 20 kilometers (14 miles) south of Jenin.
The
army confirmed the information, claiming all of the Palestinians “were
armed and on Israel's wanted list”.
One
was wearing an explosive belt, and the others were carrying two M16
rifles, a bullet-proof vest and two bags containing what troops believed
to be explosive material, an army spokeswoman claimed, adding the bags
would not be opened until daylight.
Two
Israelis, One Officer, Killed In Blunder
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The
Israeli car was riddled with Israeli bullets
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Meanwhile,
Israel Friday beefed up its forces in the flashpoint city of al-Khalil,
after its own troops killed two Israelis - a young army officer and a
security guard – near al-Khalil, mistaking them for Palestinian
resistance activists.
The
slaying occurred as Israel beefed up its forces in the flashpoint city
in whose center 600 hardcore Jewish settlers live under heavy army guard
amid 120,000 Palestinians.
The
occupation army said troops opened fire on the two men Thursday with
heavy gunfire and an attack helicopter.
The
army named the officer as First Lieutenant Yoav Doron, 23, from
(occupied) Jerusalem. Public radio named the other victim as Yehuda Ben
Yosef, 22, from Maaleh Adumim settlement north of the holy city.
The
two were working for a civilian security firm at the time, the radio
reported, saying Doron had finished his compulsory military service
earlier in the week and was waiting to take up a permanent post in the
army.
Commenting
on the killing, Major General Moshe Kaplinsky, head of the army's
central command, said the incident was the result of "an
operational failure with painful and tragic consequences."
"The
observation force reported they had identified some armed people in the
target area," he said in a statement, saying troops were on alert
for wanted Palestinians due to carry out an imminent attack in the area.
One
of the men got into the car and started driving, so the soldiers shouted
to stop, which he did after a few meters. He tried to get out of the car
which the soldiers saw as a threat, so they opened fire, Kaplinsky said.
The
second Israeli saw the shooting and called the security unit at Kiryat
Arba settlement saying, "terrorists dressed as soldiers had fired
at his friend". He then began running and was gunned down by the
helicopter, the statement said.
Kaplinsky
said it was "a professional mistake by the observation force".
