Mourners fill Jenin streets for funerals of Palestinians killed as Israel ends operation

Israel's defence ministry says future operations are a possibility

Smoke and flames rise above buildings after Israeli launched air strikes on Gaza city. AFP

Large crowds gathered in the streets of Jenin camp on Wednesday to mourn the deaths of the 12 Palestinians killed during an Israeli military operation.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health said that those killed were aged between 16 and 22, and that 120 Palestinians had been injured, including 20 in a critical condition.

There were some angry scenes during processions, as footage circulating on social media showed crowds confronting senior Palestinian Authority officials, asking them to leave the funeral.

Earlier, Israel's Defence Minister said that all goals of the major two-day military operation in the northern West Bank city had been met.

Yoav Gallant also hinted at future operations, saying the raid was “not the final word, as far as we’re concerned”.

In addition to the 12 Palestinians, an Israeli soldier was killed in the assault on Jenin refugee camp, launched under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right government.

The raid was the largest that Israel has conducted in the West Bank in more than two decades.

Despite Israeli troops fully withdrawing early in the morning, tension remained high in the region on Wednesday after a Palestinian gunman opened fire on a Samaritan community near the northern West Bank city of Nablus. No injuries were reported.

The attack came after Israel launched air strikes on the densely populated Gaza Strip in the morning following rocket fire from the Hamas-run enclave.

Israel amassed soldiers for Monday's operation and used bulldozers to tear up streets, forcing thousands of Palestinians to flee the camp, usually home to about 18,000 people.

The military also said it had killed at least 18 Palestinian gunmen.

Powerful helicopter gunships were used in the occupied West Bank for the first time in years and drones launched several strikes described by residents as “terrifying”.

On Wednesday, Turkey's Anadolu news agency reported that nearly 80 per cent of homes in Jenin's refugee camp were “either destroyed, damaged or burnt” in the Israeli operation.

The city's mayor, Nidal Al Obeidi, said that almost one-third of the camp's residents fled the area during the operation.

While pulling back forces from Jenin on Tuesday, Israel warned that more operations were to come, while residents said they could still hear drones circling overhead on Wednesday morning.

Mr Netanyahu suggested on Tuesday that similar operations could take place.

His warning came the same day as UN human rights chief Volker Turk decried the week's violence.

“The killing, maiming and the destruction of property must stop,” Mr Volker said, adding that the week's events “worryingly underscore an all too familiar pattern of events: that violence only begets more violence”.

A call has been made for people in Jenin camp to help with clean-up efforts following the destruction of large parts of the heavily built-up area.

The US on Wednesday said it supported Israel's right to “defend” itself but added that “measures need to be taken to improve the humanitarian situation on the ground and restore critical services like electricity and water to the civilian population”, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.

Gaza attack

Early on Wednesday, the army said it had carried out air strikes on the Gaza Strip after it intercepted five rockets fired at Israeli territory.

A Palestinian security source said the missiles hit a Hamas military site in northern Gaza but no one was wounded.

Elsewhere, a car-ramming and stabbing incident in Tel Aviv on Tuesday wounded seven people before the attacker was shot dead.

During the raid, the army said it had uncovered militant hideouts, arms depots and an underground shaft used to store explosives.

“In the last five years, this is the worst raid,” said Qasem Benighader, a nurse at a hospital morgue.

The army said its forces had dismantled six explosives manufacturing centres and three operational situation rooms in Jenin, and confiscated large quantities of weapons.

“The weapons were located in hideouts, a mosque, pits concealed in civilian areas, operational situation rooms and in vehicles,” it said.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry labelled the escalation “open war against the people of Jenin”.

Medical charity Doctors Without Borders also condemned Israeli forces for firing tear gas inside Khalil Suleiman hospital in Jenin, calling it “unacceptable”.

Palestinian Health Minister Mai Al Kaila accused the army of shooting at Palestinians in a courtyard of the Jenin public hospital.

“Israel's aggression reached its climax this afternoon when citizens were shot at directly in the courtyard of Jenin hospital, wounding three, two of them seriously,” Ms Al Kaila said.

Forces had also stormed the Ibn Sina hospital, she added.

The Israeli army said there were reports on social media regarding fire by soldiers towards a hospital.

“The reports are not currently known to security forces,” it said. “Terrorist organisations have exploited civilian areas as a hideout.”

Shops in Jenin were shut amid a general strike and the near-empty streets littered with debris and burnt roadblocks.