JENIN: Zionist forces shot dead two Palestinians on Thursday during an arrest raid that sparked gun battles in a West Bank stronghold of hardline factions, said Palestinian officials and the Zionist army. Muhammad Ayman Al-Saadi, 26, and Naim Jamal Zubaidi, 27, were "killed by the (Zionist) occupation bullets at dawn today during its aggression on Jenin camp," a Palestinian health ministry statement said.

Deadly violence has surged in the territory since March, when the Zionist entity launched near daily raids. Palestinian sources familiar with Islamic Jihad who requested anonymity confirmed Saadi was a member of the group. Zubaidi belonged to a prominent Jenin family whose relatives have been targeted by Zionist forces. Jenin is a stronghold of militant factions in the West Bank, a territory occupied by the Zionist entity since the Six-Day War of 1967.

Islamic Jihad has a large presence in the West Bank, but also in the Zionist-blockaded Gaza Strip, where in August the Zionist entity carried out a three-day "pre-emptive operation" it said was necessary to thwart planned Islamic Jihad attacks inside the Zionist entity. Following Thursday's raid, Islamic Jihad warned the Zionist entity "will pay dearly", and it praised those killed in Jenin.

The group also fired three rockets that landed in the Mediterranean Sea on Thursday, security sources in Gaza told AFP. Palestinian prime minister Mohammad Shtayyeh condemned the latest Zionist raid and called for "urgent" action to ease spiraling tensions in the West Bank. On Monday, the United Nations envoy for Middle East peace, Tor Wennesland, warned the situation in the territory was "reaching a boiling point".

Zionist forces have made more than 3,000 arrests across the West Bank this year. An estimated 475,000 Zionist settlers now live in the West Bank, alongside about 2.9 million Palestinians, in communities considered illegal under international law. - AFP