Israeli raid prompts violence in West Bank’s Jenin

Injuries reported in shootout after Israeli forces detain Hamas operative in Jenin’s al-Hadaf district.

Israeli army machines demolish a Palestinian house during an Israeli raid in the West Bank city of Jenin
Israeli troops withdrew from the camp after demolishing Majdi Abu al-Heija's home [Mohamad Torokman/Reuters]

Dozens of people have been wounded in a shootout between Israeli forces and Islamic Jihad members in the city of Jenin in the north of the occupied West Bank.

The fighting broke out overnight Monday after about 40 Israeli army vehicles turned up outside the house of the group’s senior commander, Bassam al-Saeedi, in the al-Hadaf neighbourhood of the Jenin refugee camp, sources told Al Jazeera.

A Palestinian security official said that a local leader of Hamas, Majdi Abu al-Heija, his son, and his brother were arrested in the raid.

Israeli soldiers surrounded their home and came under fire from Palestinians protecting the two men. Several Palestinians were wounded and taken to hospital, he said.

Israeli forces then used bulldozers to demolish parts of the home, the source told Al Jazeera.

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Soldiers also tried to arrest Islamic Jihad member al-Saeedi but could not find him, he said. He spoke anonymously as he is not allowed to brief the media. 

Israeli troops withdrew from the camp after demolishing al-Heija’s home.

Medical sources told Al Jazeera that they have dealt with 12 injures, most due to the effects of tear gas. 

Peter Lerner, the Israeli army spokesman, confirmed an “exchange of fire”   but did not elaborate further. 

A statement by the Israeli military released later said there had been an “activity to arrest a senior Hamas operative in Jenin.”

A violent riot of hundreds of Palestinians erupted in the area. The crowd hurled rocks and Molotov cocktails at the forces.  A border police officer was moderately injured,” the statement read.

Source: Al Jazeera