The Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) threatened to avenge the killing of two of its men in the Jenin refugee camp.
The two, Abdallah al-Husary, 22, and Shadi Nijem, 18, were killed during clashes with IDF troops in the camp early Tuesday.
Husary was identified as a member of PIJ’s al-Quds Brigades, while Nijem was described as a member of a PIJ-affiliated group called Belt of Fire.
The incident came as Palestinian factions called for a “day of rage” in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. It also came amid a significant increase in the number of shooting attacks against IDF soldiers and installations in various parts of the West Bank.
Husary was shot dead when he opened fire at the soldiers who entered the camp, according to Palestinian sources, who said that he had previously been summoned for interrogation by the Palestinian Authority security forces in Jenin over his activities with PIJ.
According to the sources, during the raid the soldiers arrested Emad Abu al-Haija, a camp resident believed to be a member of Hamas.
Nijem was critically injured during the clashes between the soldiers and gunmen in the camp. He later died at a local hospital.
The Jenin refugee camp has long been home to various armed groups and unruly gunmen, especially those belonging to PIJ and Fatah’s al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.
Hundreds of mourners attended the funeral of the two amid calls for avenging their “martyrdom.”
“The enemy will pay dearly for its crimes,” PIJ said in a statement shortly after the armed clashes in the camp. “We affirm our adherence to the resistance and jihad [holy war] until the liberation of our land and holy sites.”
The statement described the two as “resistance fighters,” and said Israeli “crimes will not go unnoticed because the arm of the Palestinian resistance will reach the occupation everywhere.”
A spokesperson for the al-Quds Brigades said that Husary was killed “after a life full of jihad and resistance,” adding: “If the occupation thinks that we are asleep and unaware of what’s happening in our camp, then it is living under an illusion.”
Hamas, for its part, called on Palestinians in the West Bank to launch an intifada against Israel in response to the killing of the two men and other Israeli measures.
Hamas praised Husary and Nijem for their “heroic resistance” during the clashes with the IDF troops, and warned that Israel would bear the repercussions of its “crimes” and “terrorism” against the Palestinians.
The PA Foreign Ministry renewed its call to the international community to provide protection for the Palestinians, and also called upon the US administration to “assume its responsibilities and exert pressure on Israel to halt its crimes.”
The ministry condemned the killing of the two Palestinians, dubbing it “an extra-judicial execution.”