In the early hours of Wednesday, Israel escalated its military activities in the West Bank, launching coordinated raids across four cities—Jenin, Nablus, Tubas, and Tulkarem. This operation, part of a broader response to the ongoing Gaza war, resulted in the deaths of nine Palestinian fighters, according to the Israeli military.
The nearly 11-month conflict in Gaza, triggered by Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attacks, has shown no signs of abating. The war has claimed over 40,000 lives in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, and has led to widespread devastation, displacing almost all of Gaza’s 2.4 million residents and sparking a severe humanitarian crisis.
The latest West Bank operation saw columns of Israeli armored vehicles entering two refugee camps in Tulkarem and Tubas, as well as the city of Jenin. Israeli forces blocked entrances to the towns and camps, engaging in exchanges of gunfire and detonations. Israeli bulldozers were seen digging up streets in search of roadside bombs.
The Palestinian Red Crescent confirmed that nine people were killed and 15 others wounded during the raids. Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas cut short a visit to Saudi Arabia to return home and oversee the situation, condemning the “Israeli aggression on the northern West Bank.”
The Israeli military justified the operation by claiming it targeted Palestinian “terrorists” and reported no casualties on its side. However, this intensified violence has further strained the already volatile region. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz described the operation as a full-force bid to dismantle what he termed as “Iranian-Islamic terror infrastructure.” Katz accused Iran of attempting to establish an “eastern front against Israel,” similar to its influence in Gaza and Lebanon, where it supports Hamas and Hezbollah, respectively.
Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian Islamist movement aligned with Hamas, condemned the raids, declaring Israel’s actions as an “open war” aimed at annexing the West Bank. Hamas, whose influence has grown in the West Bank since the Gaza war began, called for an uprising among Palestinians in the territory.
In Gaza, the ongoing conflict continues to displace thousands of families. The Israeli army issued evacuation orders around Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Hospital in Deir el-Balah, prompting nearly 650 patients to flee, according to Doctors Without Borders (MSF). The medical charity highlighted the dire situation, stating that field hospitals, now being set up as a last resort, are inadequate amid Israel’s dismantling of the healthcare system.
New Israeli airstrikes in Gaza claimed at least 12 more lives, including a child and a woman, according to Gaza’s civil defense agency. Meanwhile, the impact of Hamas’s October 7 attack, which killed 1,199 people, mostly civilians, continues to fuel the ongoing violence, with no end in sight.
Sources By Agencies
