At least 10 Palestinians killed as Israel launches largest West Bank offensive in 22 years
Israeli occupation forces have initiated what is expected to be the largest military operation in the West Bank in over two decades, targeting multiple governorates late on Tuesday night.
The Israeli military command announced a "wide-scale operation" in the Tulkarm and Jenin areas, focusing on Resistance fighters.
The Palestinian Red Crescent (PRC) confirmed that at least 10 Palestinians have been killed since the operation began, including two in Jenin, four in a nearby village, and four more in a drone strike on Tubas. Nearing Wednesday morning, an Israeli strike on a vehicle south of Jenin killed an additional three Palestinians.
The PRC reported that Israeli forces are preventing emergency workers from recovering the bodies of those killed in Tubas. The Palestinian Ministry of Health identified the two martyrs in Jenin as Qassam Mohammad Jabarin and Issam Walif Balo'ut. Three others were injured in confrontations.
Israeli media has indicated that the extensive incursion involves a division's worth of Israeli occupation forces, including undercover Mista'arvim units disguised as Palestinians. Reports suggest that Israeli forces have blocked access routes to hospitals in the occupied territories.
The aggression is primarily focused on the Jenin refugee camp, al-Far'a refugee camp in Tubas, and Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarm. Israeli forces conducted an air landing in Tubas via military helicopter, with thousands of troops participating in the operation, which is expected to last several days.
Resistance groups have responded to the aggression. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad's (PIJ) al-Quds Brigades announced that its fighters are engaging Israeli forces across several areas in Jenin and the refugee camp. The Tulkarm Brigade claimed responsibility for detonating an IED that destroyed an Israeli military bulldozer.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine's (PFLP) Abu Ali Mustapha Brigades also reported that its fighters are confronting Israeli forces in the West Bank. An incursion into the al-Aroub refugee camp in northern al-Khalil resulted in an Israeli force being targeted with an improvised explosive device.
The PIJ released a statement naming their defense of the occupied territory "The Horror of the Camps," in response to Israel's operation, which it has dubbed "Summer of Camps." The PIJ condemned Monday's Israeli airstrike on a building in Nur Shams refugee camp that killed five Palestinians, marking a rare and unprecedented escalation in the West Bank.
"The escalation of crimes by the Israeli entity and its settlers in the occupied West Bank over the past few hours is a decision for an undeclared open war against our Palestinian people," the PIJ stated. The movement accused Israel of shifting its military focus from Gaza to the West Bank to enforce a new status quo in the occupied territories.
The al-Mujahideen movement also released a statement, holding the United States responsible for the ongoing aggression in the West Bank due to its continued support of the Israeli government. (ILKHA)