Islamic Jihad's Quds Brigades and Fatah's Aqsa Martyrs Brigades both confirmed reports of fierce confrontations with Israeli forces in Jenin Refugee Camp on Saturday. A joint statement said the confrontations took place at several locations in the city and followed an Israeli incursion.Since the beginning of this month, Israeli forces have invaded the northern West Bank camp on a daily basis. This is the period of memorial of five years since the major attack on Jenin in April 2002. A large Israeli force entered the camp at dawn on Saturday with military bulldozers and machinery and attempted to gun down activists, the statement said.
The joint force gathering members from both brigades put on a tough fight, the statement added. According to the Palestinian groups, there were clashes on all fronts of the western neighborhood and Al-Damj and Saha areas. The fighting lasted till early morning and Palestinian resistance reported casualties on the Israeli side. Quds Brigades fighters blew up a military bulldozer in Al-Saha area while Aqsa Martyrs Brigades fighters blew up an SUV, the statement said. It was reported both vehicles were seen engulfed by flames and dragged out of the camp by the Israeli soldiers.
The Quds brigades said the attack left casualties and damages on the Israeli side. It added that this attack comes in retaliation to the continuing Israeli aggression against the Palestinians. Twenty Israeli military vehicles were involved in Saturday's invasion and siege in which no one was arrested.
A spokesman for the Israeli Army meanwhile confirmed an explosive charge was detonated in close proximity to forces that carried out the incursion into Jenin today but said there were no human losses. The Palestinian joint statement vowed more such operations to stress continued resistance in all occupied territories.