Amid a rise in violent clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces after the unveiling of the so-called ‘deal of the century’ last week, an Israeli paper has revealed details of a heavy gun battle in the West Bank as Intifada memories loom.
Israeli media outlets on Thursday reported clashes between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian protesters which led to the deaths of at least two Palestinians in the West Bank city of Jenin.
The leading Israeli Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, however, revealed on its English website that clashes in the city were simultaneously accompanied by a “heavy” gun battle in which Israeli soldiers were “ambushed on all fronts”.
The report said Israeli soldiers from the “Nahal Brigade”, backed by snipers from the Combat Engineering Corps, had entered Jenin late on Wednesday to demolish the home belonging to the family of a Palestinian accused of attacking an Israeli settler.
From the first minutes upon arriving in the area, the Israeli soldiers were met with heavy gunfire from at least four groups of masked fighters, armed with AK-47 and M-16 assault rifles.
The ensuing violent exchange lasted nearly two hours and resided after Israeli forces were “evacuated from the area” at around 3:30 a.m. local time.
The report added that “explosives - somehow planted under the military's vehicles” had also been detonated during the battle.
The report did not provide any details about possible casualties among Israeli soldiers and the Palestinian fighters.
The development in Jenin, known for its historic role in the Second Intifada which took place from 2000 till 2005, marks the first instance of widespread armed clashes in the West Bank in the past years.
The reported gun battle, among other clashes across the occupied territories, come after Trump unveiled his so-called deal of the century on January 28.
Israeli forces kill three more Palestinians amid tensions over US deal
The scheme, negotiated with Israel but without the Palestinians, enshrines Jerusalem al-Quds as “Israel’s undivided capital” and allows the regime to annex settlements in the occupied West Bank and the Jordan Valley.
The proposal further denies the right of return of Palestinian refugees into their homeland, among other controversial terms.
Thousands of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and besieged Gaza Strip have taken to the streets in condemnation of the plan.
Muslims all across the world have also expressed solidarity with the Palestinian cause and denounced Trump's proposed plan.
Protesters march on US embassy in Jordan to slam Trump deal
Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, has said that Trump’s pro-occupation plan is doomed to die even before the US president’s own death, adding that Washington’s push “will definitely end in failure.”
