Israel kills at least ten Palestinians in the West Bank after launching what they describe as the first stage of a large-scale military operation in the occupied territory. Both Hamas and the Palestinian Authority attack the military escalation.
Israel launched this Wednesday a large scale military operation in the busy West Bankand his forces killed at least ten people and blocked access to the volatile city of Jeninaccording to official Palestinian sources.
Israel has carried out almost daily incursions into the West Bank since the Hamas attack on October 7. Israel says it is seeking to root out the militants to prevent attacks on its citizens, while Palestinians in the West Bank fear the Jewish state will try to expand the war and forcibly displace more of them.
Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli military spokesman, said that “great forces“had entered Yenína longtime militant stronghold, as well as in Tulkarem and the Al-Faraa refugee camp, all in the northern West Bank.
First stage of a major operation, according to Israel
According to Israel, all ten of the dead were militiamen. The Israeli army spokesman said that five other suspects of militant links were arrested and that the raids marked the first stage of an even bigger operation.
For their part, Palestinian militant groups said they were exchanging fire with Israeli troops. The governor of Jenin, Kamal Abu al-Rub, said on Palestinian radio that the israeli forces had surrounded the cityblocking entry and exit points and access to hospitals, and destroying infrastructure in the camp.
The Palestinian Health Ministry in the West Bank said the israeli forces had blocked the paths that lead to a hospital with earthen barriers and surrounded by others medical facilities in Jenin. Shoshani said the Israeli military was trying to prevent militants from taking refuge in hospitals.
An AP reporter saw on the ground military vehicles blocking all entrances to Al-Faraa camp. Military jeeps and bulldozers entered the camp and there were soldiers patrolling its alleys on foot. Water seeped into the streets from houses where the fighting had damaged tanks and pipes. They could be heard shots every few minutes.
Israel draws parallels with Gaza and defends similar measures in the West Bank
He Israeli foreign minister, Israel Katzestablished comparisons with Gaza and called for similar measures in the West Bank. “We must confront the threat in the same way we confront the terrorist infrastructure in Gaza, including the temporary evacuation of Palestinian residents and any necessary measures. This is a war in all aspects and we must win it,” he wrote on platform X. Shoshani specified that there was currently no plan to evacuate civilians.
Hamas called on Palestinians in the West Bank to rebel, calling the assault part of broader plan to expand war in Gaza and blaming the escalation on US support for Israel. The Islamist group called on security forces loyal to the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, who cooperate with Israel, to “join the sacred battle of our people.”
The Palestinian Authority condemns the “serious escalation” and calls for US intervention
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, condemned the military assault as a “serious climbing” and called on the United States to intervene. Abbas later announced that he would cut short a visit to Saudi Arabia and return to the West Bank, where his government is based.
According to Palestinian ministerial sources, Israeli strikes have killed at least 652 people in the West Bank since the war in Gaza began more than ten months ago. Most have been killed during Israeli raids, which often spark gunfights with militants.
