Palestinian security forces clash with militants in West Bank

At least one person was killed as Palestinian security forces clashed with Palestinian militants and set up checkpoints on Saturday in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, residents and medics said.

Gunshots and explosions could be heard in the city, where friction has risen in recent days between militant factions and the Western-backed Palestinian Authority (PA) of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas following raids by the PA.

Residents identified the man who was killed as a militant though none of the factions immediately confirmed his affiliation.

The PA's security branch said in a statement that its forces were undertaking a security operation to restore law and order to Jenin's historic refugee camp suburb, a stronghold of Palestinian militants alienated from the Palestinian leadership.

The Palestinian militant group Hamas, which has been fighting Israeli forces in Gaza for more than a year, condemned the PA for the Jenin operation and its allied group Islamic Jihad called for a day of protests.

Jenin has also been a hotbed of conflict between the Palestinian militant groups and the Israeli military in recent years. Since March 2022, Jenin and outlying areas in the north of the West Bank have drawn intensified Israeli raids after a spate of Palestinian street attacks.

Reuters