Palestinians in uproar after Israeli army kill militants, elderly woman in West Bank

Palestinians are in uproar in the West Bank after an Israeli military operation killed six militants as well as three other people Thursday, allegedly including an elderly woman.

Israeli forces confirmed they had killed “at least” six militants in the West Bank operation, but Palestinian authorities put the death toll at nine. Israeli troops entered the city of Jenin for a counter-terrorism operation and soon came under fire from militants. The troops killed three of the attackers before surrounding the building they fled to and killing three more, according to the Wall St. Journal.

Israel’s military says it is investigating reports of other deaths. Meanwhile, Palestinians took to the streets in protest, carrying the body of an elderly woman killed in the attack.

Images show protesters firing guns into the air and throwing rocks at Israeli military equipment.

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So far this month, 29 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli operations, according to WSJ.

Thursday’s operation comes as the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) and the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) are running operation Juniper Oak, a massive joint military exercise in Israel.

“Juniper Oak is a Combined Joint All-Domain exercise which improves our interoperability on land, in the air, at sea, in space, and in cyberspace with our partners, enhances our ability to respond to contingencies, and underscores our commitment to the Middle East.” Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla, commander of CENTCOM said in a statement.

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The statement continued, “These kinds of exercises – which CENTCOM routinely conducts with our partners – develop interoperability between military forces, increase military capabilities, and are important to the security and stability of the region. The lessons learned during these exercises are exportable to our partners across the region.”

 

The exercise saw 100 tons of bunker-penetrating bombs fall in southern Israel on Wednesday as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top-level officials observed.