Israel launched a deadly attack on the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank News about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Several people were killed when the Israeli army raided the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.
Palestinian health officials said at least 10 Palestinians were killed and 35 wounded in the raid that began in the early hours of Tuesday, continued late into the night and is expected to last for days.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the operation, dubbed “Iron Wall,” was aimed at “rooting out terrorism” in the area.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said its members were the first to rescue seven people injured by live ammunition, adding that Israeli forces were blocking access to the area.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged security forces to exercise “maximum restraint” and said he “remains deeply concerned.”
The Israeli NGO B’Tselem accused the Israeli government of using the Gaza ceasefire as “an excuse and an opportunity to intensify the oppression of Palestinians in the West Bank.”
“This is not what a truce looks like,” it said.
Jenin Governor Kamal Abu al-Rub told AFP the operation was “an invasion of the (refugee) camp”.
“It came quickly, Apache helicopters in the sky and Israeli military vehicles everywhere,” he added.
A spokesman for the Palestinian security forces said in a statement that Israeli forces “opened fire on civilians and security forces, resulting in injuries to several civilians and a number of security personnel, one of whom is in critical condition.”
Al Jazeera senior political analyst Marwan Bishara said an attack on Palestinians in the West Bank is always likely once hostilities in Gaza cease.
The raid also served to distract the public following the resignations of Israeli military commanders over their acknowledged failure to protect Israel from a Hamas attack in October 2023, he suggested.
“I think the Netanyahu government is distracting. Where does it turn? On the West Coast. In Jenin. With various closures and a major attack on Jenin that will probably last for days, weeks – maybe more.”
In recent months, raids have become more frequent and intense in Jenin.
