Israeli army announces death of soldier during West Bank operation

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The Israeli army announced on Saturday the first death of a soldier in its ongoing raid in the occupied West Bank that began four days ago.

An army statement said Elkana Navon, 20, “fell during operational activity” on Saturday and that another soldier was “seriously injured” in the same incident, without providing details.

Since Wednesday, at least 22 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli army, mostly militants, in simultaneous raids in several towns in the northern West Bank.

Since Friday, soldiers have been concentrating their operations on the city of Jenin and its refugee camp, long a stronghold of Palestinian armed groups fighting against Israel.

Violence has escalated in the West Bank since Hamas’ unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7 sparked war in the Gaza Strip.

The United Nations said Wednesday that at least 637 Palestinians have been killed in the territory by Israeli troops or settlers since the start of the Gaza war.

Twenty Israelis, including soldiers, were killed in Palestinian attacks or army operations during the same period, according to official Israeli figures.

During a visit to Jenin on Saturday, Israeli army chief of staff Herzi Halevi said that Israeli forces “have no intention of letting terrorism (in the West Bank) raise its head” to threaten Israel.

“So the initiative is to go from city to city, from refugee camp to refugee camp, with very good intelligence, very good operational capabilities, with a very strong air intelligence envelope… We will protect the citizens of Israel like that.”

Of the 22 Palestinians reported dead since Wednesday, Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad said at least 14 were members of their armed wings.

Earlier Saturday, Hamas issued a statement saying that one of its fighters had carried out an “ambush” using “a high explosive device” in the Jenin refugee camp “which resulted in the death and injury of members of the advancing (Israeli) force.”

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