An Israeli military spokesman said the move was prompted by a significant recent increase in the number of attacks on Israelis from the region. He also mentioned the recent bombing in Tel Aviv that killed the attacker and wounded a passerby. The accused is from the North West Bank.
According to the Times of Israel news site, the surgery could take even longer. According to military sources, the operation will last several days, the Israeli newspaper reported. The main focus of this operation is the Dulgarem region. Armed forces operate in the city of Jenin and in a refugee camp near Dubaz. As part of the operation, several wanted Palestinians were arrested, it said, citing the army.
Israel confirmed that nine Palestinians were killed
According to media reports, the army used large numbers of infantrymen, drones and snipers and destroyed infrastructure with bulldozers. According to the West Bank Ministry of Health, nine people have been killed in the operation so far.
The figure was confirmed in a joint statement by the Israeli army, Israeli security services and police. It said three “armed terrorists” were killed in an airstrike in Jenin. Two gunmen were also killed in Jenin and Dulkarm. The statement added that four more people were killed in an airstrike near Dubas.
“As of tonight, the Israeli army is operating with all its might against the Islamic-Iranian terrorist network in the Jenin and Dulkarem refugee camps,” Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz previously wrote in X. As in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, “Iran is working to create an Eastern terrorist front against Israel in Judea and Samaria (West Bank) by funding and arming terrorists and smuggling advanced weapons through Jordan.
Hospitals were also surrounded
Jenin Governor Kamal Abu al-Rab told Palestinian radio that Israeli forces had surrounded the city, blocking entrances and exits and access to hospitals. According to Israeli news site Ynet, the individuals sought by security forces will be arrested in the refugee neighborhoods of Jenin and Tulkarem.
According to Israeli and Palestinian media, forces surrounded hospitals in both cities and blocked ambulances. Ynet reports that the military is restricting access to the clinic buildings to prevent militants from hiding in them.
According to Al-Jazeera, Palestinians reportedly attacked soldiers with guns and explosives in the Noor Shams refugee district in Dulkarem. According to the broadcaster, there were also clashes in other cities in the West Bank. Palestinian militant groups said they exchanged fire with the Israeli army.
The situation worsened from October onwards
The already tense situation in the West Bank has worsened significantly since the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by the radical Islamist Hamas with around 1,200 deaths and the Gaza war it sparked. Since then, more than 620 people have been killed in Israeli military operations, armed clashes and militant attacks in the West Bank, according to the health ministry in Ramallah. Information cannot be independently verified.
There have been continuous attacks by the Israeli army, especially in Jenin and Dulkarem. According to the Ministry of Health, five people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Noor Shams on Monday. The Israeli military said the bombing targeted Palestinian militants.
Amnesty has called for EU sanctions
Israeli settler violence against Palestinians has also increased since the October massacre. Amnesty International is highly critical of Israel’s settlement policy. Ahead of new EU consultations on the Middle East conflict, the human rights organization called for tougher European sanctions.
In a letter to the foreign ministers of the 27 member states and EU foreign policy chief Joseph Borrell, Amnesty called for a comprehensive arms embargo and a ban on investments in certain Israeli companies and banks. Additionally, trade in goods from Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories should be banned across the EU. According to a report issued by the International Court of Justice in July, the occupation of the Palestinian territories is illegal and must be ended as quickly as possible.
Hostages in Gaza freed
Israel is struggling on many fronts. There are now almost daily clashes with Hezbollah fighters and other groups along Lebanon’s border, with deaths on both sides. At the same time, the Israeli army continues to operate in the Gaza Strip. On Tuesday, the military reported a victory: Israeli special forces freed a hostage kidnapped in October.
According to the military, the soldiers found Qayd Farhan al-Qadi unguarded in one of Hamas’ many tunnels in the Gaza Strip. This is the first time Israeli forces have rescued a hostage alive from a Hamas tunnel. Seven previously freed kidnappers were taken from their homes in the Gaza Strip by emergency services in sometimes bloody operations.
Ceasefire efforts continue
In total, Palestinian terrorists kidnapped more than 250 people from Israel to the coast on October 7 last year. After dozens of hostages were freed in the meantime, Hamas may still hold 108 hostages in its custody, according to Israel’s count. It is not clear how many of them are still alive.
The release of hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners has been a focal point of the – so far unsuccessful – ceasefire talks. Israeli media reports that an Israeli delegation will travel to Doha for further talks on a deal with Hamas. Incognito talks between Qatar, Egypt and the United States mediating between the conflicting parties have stalled for months.
