3 Palestinians martyred in clash with zionist regime forces, 20 injured

Three Palestinians were killed and 20 others were injured in pre-dawn clashes Saturday with Israeli occupation forces (IOF) in Jenin refugee camp.

Hamza Abul Haija, 22, of the Qassam Brigades the armed wing of Hamas was killed in the shoot-out along with Mahmoud Jabarin and Mahmoud Abu Zeina, local sources said.

They said that the IOF soldiers encircled a house in which Hamza was entrenched along with other fighters and asked him to surrender but he refused and exchanged fired with the soldiers.

The sources said that casualties were suffered in lines of the soldiers while the Hebrew radio said that only two Yamam squad members were slightly injured.

They said that the IOF soldiers threatened to blow up the house and bulldozed part of it before retreating from the refugee camp after killing the three fighters.

The sources pointed out that angry inhabitants attacked the soldiers with firebombs and stones in an attempt to break the siege on the house, adding that more than 20 citizens were injured in the ensuing clashes some of them in serious condition.

Hamza was wanted for both the IOF and the Palestinian Authority’s security apparatuses. His mother has been in hospital for the past few days while his father and two brothers are held in Israeli prisons.