Four Palestinian teenagers were killed by security forces over the weekend, including two on Saturday after they threw explosive devices toward troops during an arrest raid in Jenin.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health identified the two teenagers as Ahmad Mohammad Daraghmeh and Mahmoud as-Sous, both 17, saying they had been shot in the head and neck.
Another 11 were injured, three of them critically. A father and his daughter were also reported by WAFA News Agency as having been injured after being struck by a military vehicle in the camp.
According to the IDF and Shin Bet internal security agency, security forces entered the camp to arrest 25-year-old Saleh Samir Abu Zina, a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group who is suspected of planning and carrying out recent shooting attacks against IDF troops in the West Bank.
He had been convicted twice in the past for terror activities and was most recently released from prison in 2020.
The IDF said that during the arrest, “dozens of Palestinians threw explosives and Molotov cocktails at the forces and also opened fire at troops in the area.” The troops fired at armed men and identified “a number of hits.”
According to unconfirmed Palestinian reports, Heron 450 drones and Apache helicopters were seen in the skies over the camp during the raid.
On Friday, two other Palestinian teenagers were killed in two separate clashes in the West Bank.
A 15-year-old identified as Adel Daoud was shot by troops after he hurled a Molotov cocktail near the town of Kalkilya. In another clash with forces northwest of Ramallah, 17-year-old Mahdi Ladadweh was killed after being shot in the abdomen.
An "all-out war" against Palestinians
The PA accused Israel of waging an all-out war on Palestinians after the killing of four teenagers.
“Our Palestinian people are facing an all-out war that did not stop for a single moment,” said PA presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudaineh.
He called on the US administration to fulfill its promises “to stop all unilateral measures and to exert serious pressure on Israel to stop its comprehensive war against our Palestinian people before it is too late.”
Abu Rudaineh said that Israel was “delusional” if it believed that its “crimes” would bring security and stability. He warned that the continuation of the escalation would push matters toward “a comprehensive explosion, which will have devastating consequences for all.”
The PA official hinted that the Palestinians would implement previous resolutions of the PLO to halt security coordination with Israel and suspend all signed agreements between the two sides.
ABU RUDAINEH also threatened that the Palestinians would proceed with their efforts to prosecute Israel before the International Criminal Court and other international forums.
The deaths of the four teenagers come as Israeli security forces continue with Operation Break the Wave to crack down on Palestinian terror attacks. Since the operation began in April, troops have faced a significant rise in shooting attacks and massive gunfire, specifically in the northern West Bank cities of Jenin and Nablus.
The increase in troop deployment to the area – a record 24 battalions – and the increased incursions into the cities and their crowded refugee camps have made it easy for militant groups like the Lions’ Den, as well as lone Palestinian gunmen with no known affiliations, to target troops, sometimes with a massive amount of gunfire.
With tensions already high, Israeli security forces have been on heightened alert for the Jewish holidays.
On Friday, PA President Mahmoud Abbas met with senior Palestinian officials in Ramallah and discussed with them the possibility of implementing the resolutions of the Palestinian Central Council.
Earlier this year, the PCC affirmed its suspension of the recognition of Israel until it recognizes a Palestinian state on the pre-1967 lines, with east Jerusalem as its capital, and halts settlement activity. The council also voted in favor of ending security coordination with the Jewish state in all of its forms.
This was not the first time that the PLO council and other key decision-making bodies had recommended severing all ties with Israel. A similar resolution was passed by the PCC in 2018.
Abbas and the PA leadership have been criticized by their political opponents for failing to implement the resolutions.
PLO Executive Committee members who met in Ramallah on Thursday renewed their call to cut all relations with Israel.
After the meeting, which was chaired by Abbas, the committee announced that it would “move forward with the implementation of the decisions of the PCC in light of the escalation of the Israeli aggression and its daily crimes against our people.”
US Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland said he was "alarmed by the deteriorating security situation in the West Bank and east Jerusalem."
He noted that since the start of 2022 "at least 100 Palestinians have been killed, including children, amid a significant increase in Israeli military operations in the occupied West Bank, including in Area A. During the same period, 16 Israelis have been killed inside Israel in a wave of terrorist attacks by Palestinians and Israeli Arabs.
"The mounting violence in the occupied West Bank is fueling a climate of fear, hatred and anger. It is crucial to reduce tensions immediately to open the space for crucial initiatives aimed at establishing a viable political horizon," Wennesland said.
"I urge and remain actively engaged with Israeli and Palestinian authorities to restore calm and avoid further escalation.
"The fragility of the situation underscores the urgency of changing the dynamics on the ground while addressing the underlying security and political issues that are fueling the current instability," he added.