Armed clashes on Monday between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants in and around the city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank left at least five Palestinians dead, including a 15-year-old boy, and dozens more wounded, according to Palestinian health officials.

Seven Israeli security force members were also wounded. The battle in and around Jenin, long a centre of Palestinian militancy, was unusually intense, according to Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hecht, a spokesman for the Israeli military. That prompted the Israeli forces to deploy a helicopter gunship in support of ground troops battling the militants, he added.

At least one powerful explosive device laid by Palestinian militants disabled several of the Israeli military’s advanced armoured vehicles in a village near Jenin at around 7am on Monday morning, the military said. The Israeli forces then called in at least one Apache helicopter that fired towards Palestinian gunmen to try to clear the area as additional forces worked to extricate the damaged vehicles from the area under fire.

New York Times News Service