Violence erupted in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin when Palestinian security forces clashed with Palestinian militants on Saturday.
Explosions and gunshots echoed in the city where the friction between the militant factions and the Western-backed Palestinian Authority (PA) of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has spiked recently as a result of frequent raids by the latter.
According to residents and medics, at least one person lost his life because of the clashes. The man was identified as a militant, though his affiliation is still uncertain as none of the factions confirmed it.
The PA’s security branch said its forces were conducting a security operation to restore law and order in Jenin’s historic refugee camp area, which is a stronghold of Palestinian militants who are disconnected from the Palestinian leadership.
The Palestinian militant group Hamas, which has been fighting Israeli forces in Gaza for more than a year, condemned the PA for the Jenin operation and its allied group Islamic Jihad called for a day of protests.
In recent years, Jenin has become a focal point of conflict between Palestinian militant groups and the Israeli military. Since March 2022, the city and surrounding areas in the northern West Bank have faced increased Israeli raids following a series of Palestinian street attacks.
