Israeli special forces killed at least nine Palestinians on Wednesday and wounded eleven others in ground and air raids this morning at three different locations in the northern occupied Palestinian territory of the West Bank.
According to sources from the Red Crescent emergency service, four Palestinians died in an Israeli attack early Wednesday in the Fara refugee camp in Tubas – in the northeast of the West Bank -, two others in Jenin – in the north – and three others when an Israeli drone attacked a vehicle in the nearby town of Seir.
According to military sources, the armed forces launched this morning a large-scale “anti-terrorist operation” in the West Bank, which, in addition to Jenin and Tubas, included central areas such as Nablus or Tulkarm; with the help of drones and helicopters equipped with artillery. The Jenin and Tulkarm brigades, positioned in the two hottest geographical hotspots of the Palestinian armed resistance in the West Bank, already reported around midnight clashes and crossfire against Israeli troops, who stormed in with snipers, infantry, military vehicles and bulldozers to destroy infrastructure.
The city of Jenin has been completely surrounded, with no access to the government hospital and difficulties for ambulances to reach the wounded due to the blockade and blocked streets, according to the Red Crescent organization.
“(This is) an attempt by the (Israeli) entity to impose new facts on the ground aimed at subjugating the occupied West Bank, annexing it and asserting its control over our sacred places in an existential war against the Palestinian people,” he denounced. Today, in a statement, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad confirmed the “fierce fighting” waged by its armed wing, the Al Qods Brigades.
According to Palestinian sources, the siege and exchanges of fire continue and in cities such as Tulkarem – in the Nur Shams refugee camp, the army killed five Palestinians yesterday in a drone attack – it could last for several days.
The occupied West Bank is experiencing its greatest spiral of violence in the last two decades, and so far in 2024, more than 310 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire, mostly militiamen but also civilians, including some 50 minors, according to an EFE analysis based on Palestinian health data.
Since the conflict began on October 7, some 650 Palestinians have died in violent incidents with troops and a dozen with settlers, including at least 147 minors. On the Israeli side, 22 people have died so far this year (11 uniformed officers and 11 civilians, including at least six settlers), most in attacks by Palestinians, such as shootings or stabbings.
