JENIN, WEST BANK (National Times)- Israeli troops killed three Palestinians in the occupied West Bank on Friday in what the Palestinian leadership said was a bid to hamstring next month’s visit by US President Joe Biden but the Israeli authorities painted as the “foiling of an attack”.<\/p>\n
The incident was the latest violence in Jenin, which has seen stepped-up military raids in recent weeks.<\/p>\n
The military said troops operating in two parts of the town to confiscate weapons overnight “came under fire, including from a car, and shot back”.<\/p>\n
A local group claimed the dead gunmen as its own, saying in a statement they had been “martyred while carrying out their holy duty in confronting occupation forces who raided Jenin”.<\/p>\n
Hamas said one of the gunmen was its member.<\/p>\n
Much of the Jenin population is descended from refugees from the 1948 war of Israel’s foundation. The town is plagued by poverty and weak governance.<\/p>\n
During Biden’s July 13-16 visit he will meet Israeli and Palestinian leaders “to reiterate his strong support for a two-state solution, with equal measures of security, freedom, and opportunity for the Palestinian people,” the White House said.<\/p>\n
Talks on Palestinian statehood collapsed in 2014 and show no sign of revival. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett rejects sovereignty for the Palestinians, offering economic cooperation instead.<\/p>\n
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ office accused Israel of an “assassination” of the gunmen that could spark escalation.<\/p>\n
Israel’s action “comes ahead of US President Joe Biden’s visit to the region, in an attempt to avoid any political commitment,\u201d Abbas’ office said in a statement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
JENIN, WEST BANK (National Times)- Israeli troops killed three Palestinians in the occupied West Bank on Friday in what the Palestinian leadership said was a bid to hamstring next month’s visit by US President Joe Biden but the Israeli authorities painted as the “foiling of an attack”. The incident was the latest violence in Jenin, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35671,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n