At least five Palestinians, including a teenager, were killed and 66 others injured during a deadly Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank on Monday, Palestinian officials said.
Israeli commandoes backed by helicopter gunships carried out the raid that led to an hourslong gunbattle with alleged armed fighters, the military and health officials said.
Seven Israeli personnel were wounded after troops came under fire during an operation in the flashpoint town of Jenin to arrest two Palestinians suspected in attacks, the military said.
At least two of the Palestinians killed in the fighting belonged to the armed Islamic Jihad group.
With U.S.-sponsored peacemaking stalled for almost a decade, Jenin and other areas of the northern West Bank have been the focus of months of stepped-up raids by Israel.
As troops allegedly faced heavy fire and a rain of explosive devices from armed fighters in the town, the army was forced to mount an extraction mission to pull out a number of its vehicles blocked in the fighting, claimed the Israeli army.
"So that's why you saw also our forces in a very problematic area and we had to bring in a helicopter," an army spokesman told reporters.
Video obtained by Reuters showed an explosion enveloping an armored troop transport as shots ring out. Other clips showed a military helicopter launching a missile and releasing flares.
A military spokesperson said an Apache helicopter fired on an open area in order to drive back gunmen as casualties were extricated from the troop transport.
"We're aware Palestinians are hit, quite a big number. We'll know more about it in the next few hours," the spokesman said. "It will take a few hours. It's going to be pretty harsh."
There was no immediate confirmation the helicopter also released flares – an apparent precaution against launches of shoulder-fired missiles at it.
An official from the Fatah party said fighters from the nearby cities of Nablus and Tulkarem had arrived in Jenin to support the local fighters.
"We tell this occupation that all their operations are a failure, our people will win, and the dialogue between us will only be the battlefield," Atta Abu Rmeileh said.
The unusual use of helicopter gunships in the operation underlined the severity of the fighting in Jenin, where armed groups, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, have long had a strong presence in the adjoining refugee camp.
An Islamic Jihad official said the use of aircraft "will push our fighters to use tools that will surprise the enemy."
However, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said Israel would employ whatever means it thought necessary.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said the dead included a 15-year-old. Islamic Jihad claimed two of them as members. Another 66 Palestinians were wounded, the ministry said.
Another such group, Hamas, said its fighters also took part in the clashes. At least one Palestinian was detained during Monday's raid, witnesses in Jenin said.
