AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Palestinian resistance fighters have intercepted and shot down an Israeli unmanned aerial vehicle as it was on a reconnaissance mission in the skies over a refugee camp in the northern sector of the occupied West Bank.
“We and the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades (affiliated with the Fatah movement) managed, at dawn today, to shoot down an Israeli drone, and we succeeded in controlling it after targeting it with bullets,” the Jenin Brigade – affiliated to the al-Quds Brigade, the military arm of the Islamic Jihad movement – said in a press statement on Sunday.
A video shared on social media showed men in Jenin in possession of the Israeli quadcopter.
A spokesperson for the Israeli military announced in a brief statement that the army drone crashed late at night in Jenin, noting that an investigation into the incident is underway.
Also in the West Bank town of Tulkarm, the Tulkarm Brigade – also affiliated to the al-Quds Brigade – confirmed in a press release that they targeted the nearby Einav settlement with a barrage of bullets on Saturday, adding that they also targeted a car which settlers were travelling in, reportedly causing injuries.
The developments come at a time of surging violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank in the past 15 months.
Back on June 19, Israeli soldiers stormed Jenin and fired live ammunition, stun grenades and toxic gas, according to the WAFA news agency. At least seven Palestinians, including one minor, were killed and more than 90 people suffered injuries.
Combat helicopters were used for the first time in decades after the ensuing hours-long exchange of gunfire between Palestinian resistance fighters and Israeli army soldiers.
The health ministry identified some the victims of the assault as Ahmed Saqr, 15, Ahmed Daraghmeh, 19, Khaled Darwish, 21, Qassam Sariya, 19, Qassam Faisal Abu Sirriya, 29.
Four ambulances were also targeted by Israeli forces in Jenin, according to Nibal Farsakh, a media and information officer at the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS).
They were “directly targeted with live ammunition, causing material damage to the structure and the glass of the ambulances themselves,” Farsakh said.
Farsakh added that medical teams were first denied access and eventually arrived late to treat those who were injured at the scene. Some were “in a very severe condition” and needed urgent medical assistance.
The Israeli military said in a statement that the raid was to arrest two suspects and that its soldiers came under fire, which resulted in a “massive exchange of fire.”
It confirmed seven of its soldiers were wounded during the attack.
According to the Quds News Network, Hazem Nasser, a Palestinian photojournalist was shot and injured during Jenin raid.
Since the start of 2023, Israeli forces have killed nearly 190 Palestinians, including 26 children, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. The death toll includes 36 Palestinians, who lost their lives during a four-day Israeli army onslaught on the besieged Gaza Strip between May 9 and 13.
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