Israel has launched a large-scale military operation in the occupied West Bank, with its forces killing 10 Palestinian militants and sealing off the volatile city of Jenin.
Near-daily raids have been carried out by Israel in the West Bank since Hamas’ October 7 attack out of Gaza triggered the ongoing war there.
Israel says it is rooting out militants to prevent attacks on its citizens, while Palestinians in the West Bank fear it intends to broaden the war and forcibly displace more of them.
Lt Col Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli military spokesman, said “large forces” had entered Jenin, long a militant stronghold, as well as Tulkarem and the Al-Faraa refugee camp dating back to the 1948 Middle East war, all in the northern West Bank.
He said Israeli forces had killed nine militants, including three in an air strike in Tulkarem and four in a strike in Al-Faraa. He said another five suspected militants were arrested, and that the raids were the first stage of an even larger operation.
Hamas announced that 10 of its fighters had been killed in the West Bank on Wednesday. Palestinian militant groups also said they were exchanging fire with Israeli troops.
The governor of Jenin, Kamal Abu al-Rub, said on Palestinian radio that Israeli forces had surrounded the city, blocking exit and entry points and access to hospitals, and ripping up infrastructure in the camp.
The Palestinian health ministry in the West Bank said Israeli forces had blocked the roads leading to a hospital with dirt barriers and surrounded other medical facilities in Jenin.
Lt Col Shoshani said the military was trying to prevent militants from taking shelter in hospitals.
An Associated Press reporter saw army vehicles blocking all the entrances to Al-Faraa camp.
Military jeeps and bulldozers entered the camp and soldiers were seen patrolling its alleyways by foot, while water leaked onto the damaged streets from houses where fighting had damaged tanks and pipes. Shots rang out every few minutes.
Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz drew comparisons with Gaza and called for similar measures in the West Bank.
“We must deal with the threat just as we deal with the terrorist infrastructure in Gaza, including the temporary evacuation of Palestinian residents and whatever steps might be required. This is a war in every respect, and we must win it,” he wrote on the platform X.
This is a complete stripping of humanity. A never-ending tragedy.
Families across the #GazaStrip continue to be forced to flee, forced to leave their homes and belongings behind. All they can now do is try to stay alive.
People have lost absolutely everything. #CeasefireNow pic.twitter.com/qL22oawYPM— UNRWA (@UNRWA) August 26, 2024
Lt Col Shoshani said there was no plan to evacuate civilians.
Hamas called on Palestinians in the West Bank to rise up, calling the raids part of a larger plan to expand the war in Gaza and blaming the escalation on US support for Israel.
The militant group called on security forces loyal to the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, which cooperate with Israel, to “join the sacred battle of our people”.
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for Palestinian authority President Mahmoud Abbas, condemned the raids as a “serious escalation” and called on the United States to intervene. Mr Abbas later announced he was cutting short a visit to Saudi Arabia and returning to the West Bank, where his government is based.
At least 652 Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed by Israeli fire since the war in Gaza began more than 10 months ago, according to the Palestinian ministry. Most died during raids, which often trigger gun battles with militants.
Israel says the operations are required to dismantle Hamas and other militant groups. Attacks on Israelis have risen since the start of the war.
The Palestinian health ministry said the bodies of seven people were brought to the hospital in Tubas, another West Bank city, and another two were brought to the hospital in Jenin. The ministry identified the two killed in Jenin as Qassam Jabarin, 25, and Asem Balout, 39.
Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war. The Palestinians want all three for a future state.
Israel has built scores of settlements across the West Bank, which are home to over 500,000 Jewish settlers. They have Israeli citizenship, while the three million Palestinians in the West Bank live under Israeli military rule, with the Palestinian Authority exercising limited control over population centres.
The war in Gaza erupted when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel and rampaged through army bases and farming communities, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250.
The militants are still holding some 110 hostages, around a third of whom are believed to be dead, after most of the rest were released during a November ceasefire.
Israel responded with an offensive that has killed over 40,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which does not specify how many were militants. Around 90% of Gaza’s population has been displaced, often multiple times, and Israeli bombardment and ground operations have caused vast destruction.
Israeli strikes in Gaza overnight and into Wednesday killed at least 24 people, including five women and five children, according to Palestinian health officials. AP reporters at two hospitals confirmed the toll.
One strike hit tents housing displaced people near the central town of Deir al-Balah, killing eight including two brothers, aged six and 17.
The United Nations’ human rights office said Israel’s security operation in the West Bank risks “seriously deepening the already catastrophic situation” in Palestinian areas.
The use of airstrikes and another military weapons “violates human rights norms”, UN Office for the High Commissioner of Human Rights spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said.
She called on the Israeli government to abide by its obligations under international law “as the occupying power” in the West Bank.
The US, Qatar and Egypt have spent months trying to mediate a cease-fire that would see the remaining hostages released.
But the talks have repeatedly bogged down as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed “total victory” over Hamas and the militant group has demanded a lasting ceasefire and a full withdrawal from the territory.
There was no sign of a breakthrough after days of talks in Egypt, and the negotiations move to Qatar this week.
One of the hostages was released on Tuesday after Israeli forces found him in a tunnel.
After a short stay in a hospital he returned on Wednesday to his Bedouin village where he received a hero’s welcome.
