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Concerns Over Escalating Violence After IOF Martyred Nine Palestinians in Jenin

Concerns Over Escalating Violence After IOF Martyred Nine Palestinians in Jenin
folder_openPalestine access_timeone year ago
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By Staff, Agencies

Washington has raised concern over the escalation in “Israeli”-Palestinian violence after “Israeli” Occupation Forces [IOF] on Thursday martyred nine Palestinians during a West Bank raid in the deadliest single day in the territory in decades.

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said he feared the security situation could worsen as “Israel” waged airstrikes on the besieged Gaza Strip.

The top US diplomat is set to travel to the Middle East on Sunday to discuss the situation, with a visit planned to Egypt and occupied Palestinian territories.

The trip was announced just hours after “Israeli” commandos 9 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

IOF troops arrived at daybreak on Thursday at several entrances of the Jenin refugee camp and started a four-hour gun battle causing widespread damage.

“The situation in Jenin camp is very critical,” the Palestinian Authority health minister, Mai al-Kaila, said in a statement. The IOF had prevented ambulances from reaching the injured, she added.

The “Israeli” raid’s death toll is the highest in a single operation ever recorded by the United Nations since the international body’s records began in 2005.

The top US state department official on the Middle East, Barbara Leaf, said the administration was deeply concerned about the situation and that civilian casualties reported in Jenin were “quite regrettable”. But she also said the Palestinian announcement to suspend security ties was a mistake.

“Obviously, we don’t think this is the right step to take at this moment,” she told reporters, saying the Palestinian vow to bring the matter to the UN and the international criminal court was problematic.

The “Israeli” entity’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said the entity was not looking to escalate the situation, though he ordered security forces “to prepare for all scenarios in the various sectors”.

The recent election of the most rightwing government in “Israeli” history is expected to inflame an already volatile situation. Members of the new “Israeli” coalition have pledged to accelerate the building of illegal “Israeli” settlements in the occupied West Bank and loosen the rules of engagement for soldiers and police.

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