Israel has launched a major new offensive in the occupied West Bank, targeting at least four towns in what security forces are calling an “anti-terror operation to thwart terrorism.”
At least 11 Palestinians have been killed, according to local health officials, including five in an airstrike on the al-Far’a refugee camp and six in a drone attack and gunfights in Jenin.
According to Palestinian reports, the main access roads to Jenin have been closed, while Tulkarm, Nablus and Tubas have also been attacked.
Israel has carried out near-daily raids in the West Bank since Hamas attacks on Oct. 7 sparked the Gaza war, but this is believed to be the most widespread and coordinated operation of its kind in years.
Palestinian militant groups said they were exchanging fire with the Israeli army and there were reports they had entered a hospital and raided several refugee camps.
This comes after Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah launched hundreds of attacks on each other’s territory on Sunday in the biggest exchange of fire between the two sides since a new conflict erupted following the Hamas attacks on October 7.
Israeli military vehicles drive along a road during a raid in the northern town of Tulkarm in the occupied West Bank
An Israeli soldier is seen near armoured vehicles during a raid at the Nur Shams refugee camp.
Israeli soldiers operate during a raid at the Nur Shams camp for Palestinian refugees, near the town of Tulkarem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Palestinians assess the damage to a car during a military operation by Israeli forces near Jenin, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The Israeli military confirmed today that it was operating in the West Bank cities of Jenin and Tulkarem, but did not provide further details.
Foreign Minister Israel Katz said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had been “operating in full force since last night in the Jenin and Tulkarm refugee camps to dismantle the Iranian-Islamic terror infrastructures established there.”
Jenin Governor Kamal Abu al-Rub said on Palestinian radio that Israeli forces had surrounded the city, blocking entry and exit points and access to hospitals, and destroying the camp’s infrastructure.
An Israeli airstrike is reported to have hit a vehicle in a village near Jenin at dawn, with footage showing people inspecting a car with its windows blown out.
According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, at least 652 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli fire since the Gaza war began more than ten months ago. Most have died during such incursions, which often trigger shootouts with militants.
Israel says the operations are necessary to dismantle Hamas and other terrorist groups and to prevent attacks against Israelis, which have also increased since the start of the war.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said the bodies of seven people were taken to the hospital in Tubas, another West Bank city, and two others were taken to the hospital in Jenin. The ministry identified the two killed in Jenin as Qassam Jabarin, 25, and Asem Balout, 39.
Israel seized the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war. Palestinians want all three territories for a future state.
Israeli soldiers walk down a street during a raid on al-Faraa camp near the city of Tubas
Israel has built dozens of settlements in the West Bank, home to more than 500,000 Jewish settlers.
They have Israeli citizenship, while the three million Palestinians in the West Bank live under Israeli military rule and the Palestinian Authority exercises limited control over population centres.
The war in Gaza broke out on October 7, when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel and razed military bases and farming communities, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping around 250.
Militants are still holding about 110 hostages, about a third of whom are believed to be dead, after most of the rest were released during a ceasefire in November.
An Israeli military vehicle drives on a road during a raid in the northern town of Tulkarm in the occupied West Bank, on August 28, 2024.
Israel responded with an offensive that killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which did not say how many were militants.
Around 90 percent of Gaza’s population has been displaced, often multiple times, and Israeli bombing and ground operations have caused massive destruction.
Israeli strikes in Gaza overnight and on Wednesday killed at least 16 people, including five women and three children.
Most of the attacks occurred in or around the southern city of Khan Younis, which has been under heavy bombardment for the past two months. Associated Press journalists at two hospitals confirmed the toll.
The United States, Qatar and Egypt have been trying for months to broker a ceasefire that would allow the release of the remaining hostages.
But talks have repeatedly stalled as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed a “total victory” over Hamas and demanded a lasting ceasefire and full withdrawal from the territory.
There was no sign of a breakthrough after days of talks in Egypt, and negotiations are set to move to Qatar this week.