Palestinian officer killed in West Bank clashes with militants

A Palestinian officer was killed on Sunday during clashes with militants in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Authority’s security force said, nearly two weeks into intense fighting in the northern Jenin area.

Clashes between local militants and Palestinian Authority (PA) forces are typically uncommon, but Jenin and its adjacent refugee camp have witnessed frequent gunfights in recent days, triggered by arrests made earlier this month.

The PA’s force, which exercises limited control over the West Bank, said “outlaws” in the Jenin camp opened fire on Sunday at a group of security personnel, killing one officer and wounding two others.

“First Assistant Saher Farouk Jumaa Erheil was martyred this morning while performing his national duty,” the force said in a statement.

An AFP photographer in the Jenin camp heard gunfire and explosions.

Erheil, one of four Palestinians including a 13-year-old boy killed in Jenin this month, was the first member of the security forces to die in the violence.

Tensions in Jenin — also a frequent target of Israeli military raids — have escalated after Palestinian security forces had arrested several activists and militants.

Palestinian rivals of Fatah party, which dominates the PA, have condemned the arrests and accused security forces of aiding Israel.

Jenin is a stronghold of armed Palestinian factions who view themselves as a more effective resistance to the Israeli occupation, in contrast to the PA which coordinates security matters with Israel.

The PA has partial administrative authority in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967.

The clashes around Jenin have added to increasing Israeli raids and settler attacks in the West Bank since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip in October last year.