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At least nine people were killed in separate Israeli attacks on refugee camps in Jenin, Tubas and Tulkarm in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian health authorities said on Wednesday, as the Israeli army launched its biggest military operations there in years.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas cut short his official visit to Saudi Arabia and was returning to the West Bank "as a result of Israel's escalated aggression", the Palestinian state news agency Wafa reported. Mr Abbas had arrived in Saudi Arabia on Monday and met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday.
Israel's Foreign Minister Israel Katz called for the eviction of Palestinian residents from the areas in the north West Bank where the military was conducting its operations. “We need to deal with the [terror] threat exactly as we deal with terror infrastructure in Gaza, including the temporary evacuation of Palestinian civilians and any other step needed,” he said in a post on X on Wednesday.
Several hours after Mr Katz's comments, Wafa reported that Israeli forces had ordered Palestinians in the Nur Shams refugee camp, near Tulkarm, to leave within four hours.
Mr Katz said Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank were working on dismantling an Iranian-backed terror network. “Iran is working to establish an eastern terrorist front against Israel in the West Bank, according to the Gaza and Lebanon model, by financing and arming terrorists and smuggling weapons from Jordan,” he said.
The Israeli army announced early on Wednesday it was launching an anti-terror raid in the occupied West Bank. The military believes that a terror network responsible for planning an attempted suicide bombing in Tel Aviv last week is based in Tulkarm, Israeli media reported, citing military sources who said they expected the large-scale operation there to last several days.
Wednesday's offensive is the latest episode of violence in the West Bank amid a surge in recent weeks, with at least 660 people killed since the war in Gaza broke out on October 7, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa. Helicopters, drones, tanks and bulldozers were sent into Jenin, Tubas and Tulkarm early in the morning, sparking clashes with Palestinian fighters. Footage posted on social media and shared by Palestinian media showed Israeli bulldozers moving into the cities and destroying infrastructure.
Israeli raids in the occupied West Bank in the past 24 hours
Palestinian media reported heavy fighting in the cities and added that ambulances were prevented from getting to the injured. Israeli forces stormed Jenin and surrounded Jenin Government Hospital and Ibn Sina Hospital during the clashes. Two Palestinian men were killed in the fighting while three others were killed in an Israeli drone strike on their vehicle.
The Israeli army said its "counterterrorism operation" in Jenin and Tulkarm was launched "from the air and ground, dismantling explosives planted under the roads and confiscating large quantities of weapons". In Far'a refugee camp, it said it had "eliminated four armed terrorists".
The Jenin refugee camp has been a target of Israeli military campaigns, particularly since the war broke out in Gaza. The Netanyahu government claims the camp is a stronghold of armed factions responsible for committing and plotting attacks against Israel.
Israeli strikes killed four people, including a 13 and a 17 year-old, in the Far'a refugee camp south of the city of Tubas. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said ambulances were not allowed to reach the camp to treat the wounded. Drone strikes on Nur Shams camp in Tulkarm also injured two people.
PRCS said Israeli forces stormed a medical point in Far'a refugee camp, detained the team and cut their communication off. In a video posted on X by the group, soldiers were seen lining their team members up against a wall.
Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian homes south of Hebron on Wednesday, amid violence elsewhere in the West Bank. Settler attacks on the West Bank have increased since the war in Gaza began. The UN documented at least 1,250 incidents and 120 deaths as of August 12.
The latest flare-up of violence comes a day after five people were killed in a strike on Nur Shams camp and one person was shot dead by Israeli settlers in the village of Wadi Rahhal.
Israeli strikes on Gaza continued on Wednesday, killing at least 16 people, according to Wafa. Five people were killed in the southern city of Khan Younis, four in Jabalia camp in the north and three in the centre of the enclave. Two people were killed in the west of Gaza city and a journalist and his sister were killed in Nuseirat, central Gaza.
A “hostile aircraft” launched from Lebanon injured an Israeli soldier in northern Israel, the military said on Tuesday, without adding further information. One person was wounded in Lebanon after a suspected Israeli air strike targeted a pick-up truck on the same day.
