Nine Palestinians Killed As Israel Launched Large-Scale Military Operation In West Bank
- By Thetripurapost Web Desk, West Bank
- Aug 28, 2024
- 429
Israel launched a large-scale military operation in the West Bank on Wednesday, killing at least nine Palestinians and as the army surrounded the sensitive city of Jenin, Palestinian officials said.
Israel has carried out attacks on the West Bank almost every day since Hamas attacked it on October 7.
An Israeli army spokesman, Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, said "a large number of troops" entered the sensitive city of Jenin, a long-time militant stronghold.
Troops also entered the town of Tulkarim and the al-Far'a refugee camp.
He said all the nine people killed were terrorists. Of these, three were killed in an airstrike in Tulkarim and four in an airstrike in al-Fara.
He said five other suspected terrorists have been arrested. Palestinian terrorist groups said their encounter with the Israeli army was continuing. Jenin governor Kamal Abu al-Rab told Palestinian radio that Israeli forces had surrounded the city, closed exit and entry points and blocked access to hospitals.
The Palestinian Health Ministry in the West Bank said Israeli forces had blocked roads leading to a hospital and cordoned off other medical centres in Jenin. Shoshani said the army was trying to prevent terrorists from taking refuge in hospitals.
Israel Foreign Minister Israel Katz called for similar measures in the West Bank, comparing it with Gaza.
"We must deal with the threat in the same way as we dealt with the terrorist infrastructure in Gaza, including by temporarily removing Palestinian residents and taking every necessary measure. This is a war by all means and we must win it," he said in a post on X.
Shoshani said there were no plans to evacuate civilians. Hamas called on Palestinians in the West Bank to stand up against it, saying the attacks were part of a larger plan to expand the war in Gaza and blamed US support for Israel in the war. Nabil Abu Rudeinah, spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, condemned the attacks and urged the US to intervene, according to Palestine's official news agency.
According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, Israeli forces have killed more than 600 Palestinians in the West Bank since the war began in Gaza more than 10 months ago.
Israel says the operation is needed to eliminate Hamas and other terrorist groups and to stop attacks on Israelis. The Palestinian Health Ministry said seven people were killed in another West Bank city, Tubas, early Wednesday and two in Jenin. The ministry identified those killed in Jenin as Qasim Jabarin (25) and Asim Baloot (39). Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem in the 1967 war. Palestinians want these three places back for a country in the future.
Israel has built hundreds of settlements in the West Bank where more than 5,00,000 Jews live. They have Israeli citizenship, while 3 million Palestinians live in the West Bank under the rule of the Israeli army