Palestinian health ministry says 1 dead in Israeli West Bank raid

RAMALLAH: The health ministry in the occupied West Bank said one person was killed and nine injured in an Israeli raid on a refugee camp, with the Israeli military saying today it had opened fire at “terrorists”.

An 18-year-old man, Muhammad Medhat Amin Amer, “was killed by bullets from the (Israeli) occupation in the Balata camp” in the territory’s north, the Palestinian health ministry said in a late-night statement, adding that nine people were injured, “four of whom are in critical condition”.

According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, the raid began last night and triggered violent clashes.

The official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that Israeli troops entered the camp from the Awarta checkpoint and “deployed snipers on the rooftops of surrounding buildings”.

In a statement today, the Israeli military said that during the “counter-terrorism” operation, “terrorists placed explosives in the area in order to harm (military) soldiers, hurled explosives, Molotov cocktails, and rocks and shot fireworks at the forces”.

“The forces fired toward the terrorists in order to remove the threat. Hits were identified,” the statement said.

Violence in the West Bank has intensified since war broke out in the Gaza Strip after Hamas’s Oct 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

Since then, at least 815 Palestinians have been killed in the territory by Israeli troops or settlers, according to the Palestinian health ministry in Ramallah.

In the same period, Palestinian attacks in the West Bank have killed at least 25 Israelis, according to official Israeli figures.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since conquering it in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.