20 June 2023; MEMO: The Israeli army yesterday announced that its Apache helicopter was hit by Palestinian resistance fighters while it attacked the city of Jenin in the northern occupied West Bank; seven military vehicles also sustained damages, Anadolu news agency reported.
The army said the Apache helicopter was hit by Palestinian fire during the operation in Jenin, but it continued to operate.
Earlier, Israeli forces backed by Apache helicopters killed five Palestinians including a teenager and wounded more than 90, as a West Bank raid led to an hours-long gunbattle with armed resistance fighters, the military and health officials said, according to Reuters.
Eight Israeli occupation personnel were wounded after troops came under fire during an operation in Jenin to arrest two Palestinians suspects, the military said.
This is the first time that Israeli helicopters have participated in military operations in the occupied West Bank since 2002, during the Second Intifada, which broke out two years earlier.
Hebrew Channel 12 said an unusually large amount of explosives were used against Israeli forces in Jenin.
In Palestine, the Ministry of Health announced that four Palestinians were killed and 45 others were wounded by Israeli army bullets during the raid.
Far-right Member of the Knesset, Bezalel Smotrich, said the government should launch a broad offensive "to restore deterrence" in Jenin, Nablus and other West Bank areas.
"It's time for the gloves to come off," he said.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said Israel's operations in Jenin were "a dangerous escalation that will drag the region into more bloodshed" and called on the international community to "immediately and urgently intervene."
