“This terror threat in this area is not new, it hasn’t started yesterday and it’s not going to end tomorrow,” Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani told reporters in a briefing.
Earlier, the military released the names of five Palestinians identified as militant fighters who were killed in Tulkarm on Monday. Two were claimed by Hamas and three by Islamic Jihad.
‘Something came down from the sky’
As well as the major raids in Jenin and Tulkarm, two of the most volatile cities in the northern West Bank, the military said forces also raided the town of Far’a near Tubas in the Jordan Valley, killing at least four people in a drone strike.
Masoud Naaja, the father of two young men killed in the strike, said he was giving water to some men who asked for a drink when he was wounded.
A bulldozer from the Israeli forces moves on a street during a military operation in the West Bank refugee camp of Al-Faraa.Credit: AP
“In seconds, very fast, we felt like something came down on us from the sky and there was an explosion,” he said. “When I put my hand on my chest, it was full of shrapnel and blood.”
Clashes in the West Bank have risen sharply since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Israel, which says Iran has provided weapons and support to the militant factions, has stepped up operations, while Jewish settlers have also launched frequent vigilante-style attacks on Palestinian communities.
Thousands of Palestinians have been arrested in raids and more than 660 – fighters and civilians – have been killed in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since the war in Gaza began nearly 11 months ago, according to Palestinian Health Ministry figures.
At least 30 Israelis have been killed in attacks in Jerusalem and the West Bank during the period, according to Israeli tallies.
The latest round of Israeli-Palestinian violence began on October 7 after Hamas militants stormed into southern Israel, killing 1200 and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures.
Loading
Israel’s Gaza campaign has since levelled swathes of the enclave, displaced nearly all its 2.3 million people multiple times, given rise to deadly hunger and disease and killed more than 40,500 people, Palestinian health officials say.
Internationally mediated talks to end the conflict continue, with Hamas and Israel trading blame for a lack of progress, and the United States expressing optimism that a ceasefire can be reached.
Reuters