Israeli soldier killed during West Bank raid, army says

An Israeli soldier was killed and another seriously wounded during a raid on the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, the army said Thursday, the latest in a series of violent Israeli raids on the city.

The soldier who was killed, a commander of a sniper team, “fell during operational activities,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a brief statement, which provided few details. Wafa, the official Palestinian news agency, reported that one Palestinian man was injured in the attack.

Jenin, in the northern West Bank, is home to a refugee camp established more than 70 years ago for Palestinians displaced by the wars surrounding the creation of the state of Israel. The city and the camp are bastions of armed resistance to the occupation. Israel has carried out regular raids there over the years, but they have become increasingly frequent since October 7, when Hamas led a deadly attack on Israel that led to a war in Gaza.

The army arrested 28 people during the overnight raid and nine remain in custody, including Jamal Hawail, a member of the Fatah Revolutionary Council, according to a statement from the Commission for Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, which has ties to the Palestinian Authority, and the Palestinian Prisoners Club, a nongovernmental organization. The council sets policy for Fatah, the political party that controls the Palestinian Authority. The Israeli statement did not comment on the arrests.

Hundreds of Palestinians have been arrested in the raids, which Israeli officials say are part of counter-terrorism operations against Hamas and an extension of the war.

The UN human rights chief, Volker Türk, said this month that Israeli troops and settlers more than 500 people killed in the West Bank since October 7. During the same period, 24 Israelis, eight of whom were members of the security forces, were killed in the West Bank and in Israel in clashes or what Israel called attacks by Palestinians from the West Bank. said Mr. Turk.