Terror groups in the Gaza Strip on Thursday vowed to respond to the deaths of nine Palestinians during an Israeli army raid in the West Bank earlier in the day, as the Israel Defense Forces was instructed to “increase preparedness” for a potential escalation.
The IDF said troops entered the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank on Thursday to foil imminent attack plans by a local wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group. The cell had primed explosives and firearms, according to the IDF.
Nine Palestinians — including several members of the PIJ cell, other gunmen, and at least one uninvolved civilian — were killed, and another 20 were wounded in the clashes that ensued.
A senior IDF officer said the forces had foiled a “ticking time bomb” after receiving “accurate intelligence” from the Shin Bet security agency about the cell’s hideout apartment in the camp. He said the raid lasted some three hours.
PIJ spokesman Tariq Salmi vowed that “the resistance is everywhere and ready and willing for the next confrontation.”
The senior officer said the IDF was “ready and prepared for any scenario,” including possible rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, in response to the deadly clashes. Over the past year, the PIJ has launched rockets at Israel in response to members being killed or arrested in the West Bank.
The officer said the military was prepared for an escalation in other areas as well, including the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City.
Saleh al-Arouri, deputy leader of Hamas, vowed that Israel “will pay the price for the Jenin massacre.”
“Our resistance will not break, and our response will come soon,” he declared.
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