Four Palestinians killed during Israeli raid in West Bank's Jenin

Israeli troops have shot dead at least four Palestinians in an undercover raid in the city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank.

Two insurgents wanted for “terrorist activities” by Israel's military were killed in the raid as well as a person who attempted to attack them with a crowbar, Palestinian officials said on Thursday.

They also exchanged fire with gunmen.

Out of the four that were killed was a 16-year-old boy, Palestinian Health Ministry said.

It identified those killed as Omar Awadin, 16, Luay Al Zughair, 37, Nidal Khazim, 28 and Youssef Shreem, 29.

Khazim and Shreem were both residents of the Jenin refugee camp and members of Islamic Jihad, said the Israeli army.

Another 20 Palestinians were wounded by gunfire, four of them seriously.

The militant group said Israel “will pay the price for these crimes” without identifying the two as its members.

Mahmoud Al Saadi of the Palestinian Red Crescent in Jenin told AFP that “an Israeli undercover unit stormed the city centre's Abu Bakr street”.

The raid comes before a planned meeting between Palestinian and Israeli officials on Sunday in the Egyptian resort of Sharm El Sheikh for talks aimed at reducing tensions ahead of the fasting month of Ramadan.

Palestinian group Hamas, which rules in the Israeli-blockaded Gaza Strip, called the latest raid a “crime”, warning it will not go “unanswered”.

Israeli troops have launched numerous raids on the city of Jenin and its eponymous refugee camp in recent months targeting Palestinian militants.

These raids have killed more than 20 Palestinians since the start of the year.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since the Six-Day War of 1967.

The UN decried “another example of the alarming cycle of violence”, with a spokesman for UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres urging “the international community to redouble its efforts to find an end to this cycle of violence”.

Sinan Majali, spokesman for the Jordanian Foreign Ministry, called for an “immediate stop of the escalation” and stressed “the need to protect Palestinian cities from these repeated and continuous assaults”.

Since the start of the year, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has claimed the lives of 85 Palestinian adults and children, including militants and civilians.

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The more serious side of specialty coffee

While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.

The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.

Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”

One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.

Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.