Five Palestinians killed in Israel's West Bank raid as Hamas leader visits Iran

At least five Palestinians were killed and 91 more were injured as fierce gun battles with Israeli forces raged in the city of Jenin in the northern West Bank on Monday. The clashes were the latest in more than a year of violence between Palestinians and the Israeli army in the West Bank.

Seven Israeli soldiers were also wounded in Monday's clashes, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement. 

The Palestinian Health Ministry identified four of the victims as Khaled Asasa, 21, Qassam Abu Sariya, 29, Qais Jabarin, 21, and 15-year-old Ahmed Saqr. It added that dozens of the wounded were in critical condition. 

The clashes erupted in the early morning after Israeli troops conducted a raid in Jenin to detain two wanted Palestinians including the son of an imprisoned Hamas leader, Al Jazeera reported.

The Israeli army said its troops came under heavy fire during the operation, to which they responded with live fire. Palestinian militants in the city targeted military vehicles with explosive devices as troops were leaving the area. Israeli Apache helicopters launched missiles at Palestinian targets in rare airstrikes in the territory, the first since the Palestinian intifada in the early 2000s.

An IDF statement read that its “helicopters opened fire toward the gunmen to assist in extraction of the forces” after “large numbers of explosive devices were hurled at the forces.”

Some 123 Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of this year, according to Palestinian figures, as Israeli forces conduct almost daily raids into West Bank cities and towns in search of militants accused of being behind a recent spate of attacks targeting Israelis. Palestinian attacks have killed 21 Israelis since early 2023 as of June 12, according to UN figures.

The Gaza-based Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements have expanded their influence in the West Bank, with many militants fighting Israeli forces under their name. Several armed groups have also emerged to fight the Israeli incursions, including the Lion’s Den Group and the Jenin Battalion of Al-Quds Brigades, the Islamic Jihad’s military wing.

“We salute our freedom fighters in the Jenin Battalion, and we confirm our determination to continue the fight. The enemy’s threats will not frighten us and will not discourage the Al-Quds Brigades from carrying out their duty,” the Islamic Jihad said in a statement on its website.

The group claimed in another statement that three of its fighters were among those killed in Monday’s clashes.

Also commenting on the violence, Hamas stressed the resistance’s right to fight “the occupation by all available means, including armed struggle.”

“The Palestinian resistance will not be crushed and will always be prepared to defend its people and land against the Israeli occupation forces' offensives at any cost,” the movement added in a statement on its website.

Hamas in Iran

The escalation in Jenin coincided with a visit by a high-ranking Hamas delegation to Tehran on Monday morning. The delegation, headed by Hamas political head Ismail Haniyeh, is scheduled to hold talks with Iranian leaders on the latest developments in the Palestinian arena.

Islamic Jihad leaders went to Tehran last week. The movement’s secretary general, Ziad al-Nakhalah, met last Wednesday with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who praised the militant group and others.

“The strength and credibility of the Palestinian resistance groups and Islamic Jihad is increasing day by day, and the Zionist regime’s recent defeat in the five-day war confirms this,” Khamenei said about the May fighting between Gaza factions and Israel.

On Sunday, Iran’s President Ibrahim al-Raisi hosted Nakhalah in Tehran. He reiterated his country's support for the Palestinian people and their cause, which he said is the cause of all Muslims.

For years, Iran has been one of the main backers of Palestinian factions, namely Hamas, despite some setbacks over the Syrian civil war. The Islamic Republic has provided weapons and funding to the factions as part of its ideological fight against Israel and by extension the United States, both of which it describes as the “enemies of Islam.”