Israeli troops, backed by helicopter, kill 3 Palestinians in clash

By Ali Sawafta

JENIN, West Bank, June 19 (Reuters) – Israeli commandos killed three Palestinians, including a teenager, during an unusually fierce clash in the occupied West Bank on Monday in which a troop transport was disabled by a bomb and a military helicopter carried out a rare strike.

Seven Israeli personnel were wounded in fighting in Jenin that unfolded as troops raided the flashpoint town to arrest Palestinians suspected in attacks and came under fire from gunmen, the military said.

With U.S.-sponsored peacemaking stalled for almost a decade, Jenin and other areas of the northern West Bank have been a focus of months of stepped-up sweeps by Israel amid a spate of Palestinian street rampages in its cities.

Video obtained by Reuters showed an explosion enveloping an armoured troop transport as shots ring out. Other clips showed a military helicopter launching a missile and releasing flares.

A military spokesperson said an Apache helicopter fired on an open area in order to drive back gunmen as casualties were extricated from the troop transport. There was no immediate confirmation the helicopter also released flares – an apparent precaution against launches of shoulder-fired missiles at it.

Israel’s use of aircraft “will push our fighters to use tools that will surprise the enemy”, an official with the Palestinian armed group Islamic Jihad said.

The Palestinian health ministry said the three dead males included a 15-year-old. Islamic Jihad claimed one of them as its member. Another 45 Palestinians were wounded, the ministry said.

Another such group, Hamas, said its fighters also took part in the clashes. At least one Palestinian was detained during Monday’s raid, witnesses in Jenin said.