ISRAELI occupation forces killed five Palestinians today while they were standing up to the latest military raid into the Aqaba Jabr camp in Jericho.

The raid, apparently launched to round up suspects allegedly involved in a previous botched attack on Israelis, is likely to worsen an already tense situation in the region.

The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the men killed as Raafat Awadat, Malik Lafi, Adham Awaidat, Ibrahim Awaidat, and Thaer Awadat.

The latest Israeli killings come in one of the deadliest periods in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in recent years and in the early weeks of Israel’s new government, the country’s most right-wing ever, which has promised to take a tough stance against the Palestinians.

The Israeli military said the operation was aimed at arresting suspects behind a failed shooting attack at a West Bank restaurant.

In yesterday’s operation, the military was  searching for the cell, which had sealed itself inside a home in the refugee camp, it claimed. During the search, troops encountered the gunmen and a gun battle erupted.

Two of the five men killed were Hamas militants involved in the attempted attack on the restaurant, while the three others were gunmen who had exchanged fire with troops during the raid, according to Israeli security officials. 

The violence comes days after an Israeli military raid on the Jenin refugee camp killed 10 Palestinians, mostly so-called militants but also a 61-year-old woman. The next day, a Palestinian shooting attack outside an East Jerusalem synagogue killed seven people.

After last week’s deadly raid at the Jenin camp, the Palestinian Authority has declared a halt to security co-ordination with Israel.

Nearly 150 Palestinians were killed last year in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, making it the deadliest year in those areas since 2004, according to figures by the Israeli rights group B'Tselem; 30 people were killed in Israel by Palestinians in 2022.

In 37 days of 2023, Israeli troops have already killed 42 Palestinians, including eight children.

The Israeli army says most of the Palestinians killed have been militants, but stone-throwing youths protesting against the incursions and others not involved in confrontations have also been killed.