JENIN, Palestinian Territories — Gunfire and explosions rocked the Jenin area of the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, an AFP journalist reported, as the Israeli occupation forces kept up a large-scale raid for a second day.
The operation, launched just days after a ceasefire paused more than a year of fighting in Gaza, has left at least 10 Palestinians dead, according to Palestinian health authorities.
Israeli officials have said the raid is part of a broader campaign against militants in the West Bank, citing thousands of attack attempts since the Gaza war erupted in October 2023.
“The situation is very difficult,” Jenin governor Kamal Abu Al Rub told AFP.
“The occupation army has bulldozed all the roads leading to Jenin camp and to the Jenin government hospital… There is shooting and explosions,” he added, referring to the Israeli military.
Israeli forces have detained around 20 people from villages around Jenin since the operation began on Tuesday, the official said.
An AFP correspondent reported hearing gunfire and explosions from the northern city’s refugee camp, a hotbed of militancy where Israeli forces have carried out repeated raids.
In December, Jenin area militants also clashed with the security forces of the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority.
‘Iron Wall’
The Israeli military said it was continuing with the operation, dubbed “Iron Wall”, adding that it had “neutralised over 10 terrorists”.
“Additionally, aerial strikes on terror infrastructure sites were conducted and numerous explosives planted on the routes by the terrorists were dismantled,” it said in a statement.
The raid in Jenin aims to counter “hundreds of terrorist attacks, both in Judea and Samaria (the occupied West Bank) and the rest of Israel,” military spokesman Nadav Shoshani said at a press briefing.
He said that since the start of the Gaza war, Israel had seen “over 2,000 terror attack attempts” from the West Bank, adding that the army had “eliminated around 800 terrorists”.
Shoshani said the explosive devices planted along roads had recently killed a soldier in the area.
Islamic Jihad, one of the factions present in Jenin, condemned what it called “the systematic displacement, destruction and killing carried out by the occupation army against Jenin refugee camp”.
The Palestinian Authority’s foreign ministry accused Israel of “collective punishment” and said the raid was part of an Israeli plan aimed at “gradually annexing the occupied West Bank”.
‘Decisive operation’
Defence Minister Israel Katz vowed to continue the raid in Jenin.
“It is a decisive operation aimed at eliminating terrorists in the camp,” Katz said in a statement on Wednesday, adding that the military would not allow a “terror front” to be established there.
“It is a key lesson learnt from Gaza… we do not want terrorism to recur in the camp once the operation ends,” he said.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for “maximum restraint” from Israeli security forces and expressed deep concern, deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said.
Violence has surged throughout the occupied West Bank since the Gaza war erupted on October 7, 2023.
According to the Palestinian health ministry, Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 848 Palestinians in the West Bank since the war began.
