Palestinian resistance groups have hailed the “heroic operation” in the northern part of the occupied West Bank as “a natural response” to the violence perpetrated by the Israeli regime against Palestinians.
Two Palestinian men and one Israeli trooper were killed during an exchange of fire near the city of Jenin early on Wednesday.
Hazem Qassem, a spokesman for the Gaza-based Hamas resistance movement, said resistance fighters from the city of Jenin will continue their fight against Israeli occupiers as part of the new phase of confrontation under the slogan that the Palestinian uprising will carry on until all its goals are achieved.
Qassem said the brave men of Jenin have foiled all threats posed by the Israeli enemy, and proven that they are not afraid of the regime’s combat drones and incessant attacks.
He underscored that the blood of two Palestinians killed at the Jalama (Gilboa) military checkpoint north of Jenin will further nourish the Palestinian uprising and fight against the occupying Israeli regime, and will guarantee the victory and liberation of Palestine.
The Hamas spokesman stated that the struggle of Palestinians to defend the sacred al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Israeli-occupied Old City of al-Quds and respond to the crimes of the Zionist enemy will increase with each passing day.
Daoud Shehab, a spokesman for the Islamic Jihad movement, also praised the Jalama operation as an important development.
The operation, he asserted, represents a response to daily Israeli attacks on Palestinian cities, and conveys a message from Palestinian groups to the Israeli regime that the resistance front will never stop defending the nation, occupied territories and holy sites.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) also issued a statement, saying that the blood of Palestinian martyrs will never be wasted, but will rather form the basis for the liberation of Palestinian lands and the return of refugees.
The Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) in its reaction described the latest West Bank operation as a natural response to Israeli crimes against the entire Palestinian nation, the al-Aqsa Mosque compound and Palestinian prisoners.
Two Palestinian men killed in the operation were identified as Ahmad Ayman Abed, 23, and Abdul Rahman Hani Abed, 22. The Israeli soldier was identified as Major Bar Falah, 30.
The two slain Palestinian men were from the village of Kufr Dan on the western outskirts of Jenin.
BREAKING: Two Palestinians killed by Israeli army gunfire near Jalama checkpoint in the north of the West Bank.https://t.co/7X5YwfBX9F pic.twitter.com/fIYFeKTNZu
— Wafa News Agency - English (@WAFANewsEnglish) September 14, 2022
Israeli forces continue their near-daily raid-and-arrest operations in various parts of the West Bank, wounding or killing Palestinians.
Such raids are carried out while Israeli settlers also conduct acts of violence against Palestinians and their property.
More than 70 Palestinians, including 37 Palestinian children, have been killed so far this year, many as a result of the use of lethal force by the Israeli authorities in a manner described by the UN Human Rights Office in the Occupied Territories as a violation of international human rights law.