Jenin Governor Kamal Abu al-Rub said today that hundreds of people are leaving their homes in Jenin in the occupied West Bank as the deadly Israeli military operation continues, AFP reports.
The Israeli army began an operation in the area of the city a few days after a ceasefire came into effect in the war against the Palestinian Islamist organization Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
It was announced today that two Palestinian extremists suspected of killing three Israelis and wounding six others on January 6 in an attack on a bus in the West Bank were killed near Jenin last night.
They were found barricaded in a house in the village of Burkin and "eliminated after an exchange of fire." One soldier was wounded, the statement added. The Palestinian Health Ministry later confirmed the deaths of two people.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the goal of the operation, dubbed "Iron Wall," is to "eradicate terrorism" in the area.
"Hundreds of residents of the camp began leaving after the Israeli army, using loudspeakers on drones and military vehicles, ordered the evacuation of the camp," Abu al-Rub told AFP.
The Israeli military, however, said it was not aware of any evacuation orders for Jenin residents at this time.
At least 12 Palestinians have been killed and 40 wounded since the operation began on Tuesday, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
Jenin resident Salim Saadi confirmed that Palestinians have begun leaving the camp, adding that the army is outside his house and could enter at any moment.
Israeli forces also detained several Palestinians and an AFP photographer saw blindfolded men being taken away from the West Bank.
Palestinians had already begun fleeing on foot on Wednesday and AFP TV broadcast footage of groups of men, women and children walking along a muddy road as drones flew overhead.
Violence has intensified across the West Bank since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza on October 7, 2023, following attacks by Palestinian extremists on southern Israel.
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, Israeli soldiers and Jewish settlers have killed at least 850 Palestinians in the West Bank so far, including many extremists.
At least 29 Israelis, including soldiers, were killed during the same period, according to official Israeli figures.
The Hamas Health Ministry announced today a new toll of at least 47.283 dead in the Gaza war, adding to the death toll as bodies are discovered under the rubble.
A ceasefire came into effect on Sunday between Israel and the Islamist movement in the Palestinian territory, where the hospital system has been destroyed during 15 months of fighting and bombing.
A total of 122 bodies were brought to hospitals in the past 24 hours, the ministry said, adding that there were also 306 wounded. The ministry specified that of the total number of dead, 120 were "discovered under the rubble," without specifying where two more bodies came from.
Since the ceasefire came into effect, Palestinians have been dying from wounds.
A total of 11.472 wounded have been counted in Gaza since the start of the war on October 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel, prompting an Israeli response and attack on Gaza.
The Hamas Ministry of Health recalled that for several months it had made an online platform available to the families of the dead and missing, inviting them to fill in their details and contribute to the identification of the bodies, and to compiling the most accurate data possible.
Israel regularly questions the credibility of Hamas ministry data, but the UN considers it reliable.
The Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that Israeli security forces during an operation in Jenin in the West Bank "set fire to several houses belonging to citizens" and forced several families to "evacuate their homes and turn them into military barracks."
Wafa reports that at least 12 Palestinians were killed. Earlier, an Israeli military source said that the operation resulted in the killing of 13 Palestinian gunmen.
Israeli media reports that the IDF claimed to have killed 13 Palestinians during its operation in and around Jenin since Tuesday in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The IDF announced that it is conducting Operation Iron Wall against operatives in Jenin who it claims are affiliated with Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
The Times of Israel reports that a senior IDF officer in the Western Division told them that Israeli troops have killed 13 armed Palestinians since Tuesday morning.
Several special forces units are operating in the Jenin refugee camp, along with members of the Border Police and other IDF units, the Israeli newspaper reported. The officer said the troops are searching homes, seizing weapons and eliminating terrorists.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since it captured the territory during the Six-Day War in 1967.
Singer Yuval Rafael, who survived the Palestinian Hamas massacre at the Nova music festival, will represent Israel at the Eurovision Song Contest in May.
She qualified for the competition yesterday after winning the Israeli "Rising Star" competition where she received the majority of the audience votes, the Jerusalem Post reports.
The Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that Israeli security forces have made at least 22 new arrests in the Israeli-occupied West Bank since last night.
Citing the Prisoners' Club and the Palestinian Prisons Agency, it is reported that "the occupation forces are continuing their military operation in the Jenin area and its camp, carrying out arrests of dozens of citizens, along with field executions, torture and destruction of infrastructure, as well as vandalism and destruction of citizens' homes."
The Israeli military said in an earlier statement that it had killed two men in the occupied West Bank, whom it accused of a January 6 shooting attack that killed three Israelis and wounded several others, labeling them as members of the militant group Islamic Jihad.
The Gaza Civil Defense said the bodies of at least 162 Palestinians have been pulled from the rubble left by Israeli strikes on Gaza since the ceasefire came into effect.
The death toll in the Gaza conflict, which journalists have not been able to independently verify, is estimated at nearly 47.000 dead, with many more bodies believed to be trapped under rubble and too difficult and dangerous to extract while the Israeli military offensive was underway.
Israel Radio reports that the Donald Trump administration in Washington has informed Israel that it expects to withdraw from Lebanon by a deadline on Sunday.
Under the terms of the November ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon, the Israeli military (IDF) had 60 days to end its invasion and operations in Lebanon and withdraw behind the Blue Line, the UN-established border between the two countries. The deadline expires this week.
The IDF claims to have destroyed Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon and has also prevented displaced residents from returning to their homes. Tens of thousands of Israelis have also been displaced from their homes by months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which the ceasefire is supposed to end.
Israel reportedly requested a 30-day extension of the invasion before withdrawing. Israeli media reported that they understood the Biden administration was inclined to allow the extension.
"The agreement included a 60-day deadline for completing the IDF withdrawal from southern Lebanon and for the positioning of the Lebanese army in their place, but it was not fixed and was formulated with a certain flexibility," Haaretz quoted US Ambassador to Israel Michael Herzog as saying on Israel's Army Radio.
He added that negotiations are underway with the Donald Trump administration to extend the time needed for the Lebanese army to truly position itself and fulfill its role according to the agreement.
"The incoming administration understands our security needs and positions, and I believe we will reach an agreement on this issue," Hercog said.
New US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stressed the need to continue implementing the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, as well as the release of hostages in Gaza, during a call with regional leaders, the Guardian reports.
US government reports show that during talks with UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed, Donald Trump's top diplomat "discussed the Gaza ceasefire agreement, the release of hostages, and humanitarian assistance to Gaza" and that Rubio "affirmed the importance of this agreement for regional security and stability and stressed the need to continue its implementation."
Rubio also spoke with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. A 2021 US intelligence report found that bin Salman approved the killing of American journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul in 2018, but the Joe Biden administration took no direct action against the crown prince.
In his conversation with bin Salman, according to the State Department, Rubio "expressed his look forward to advancing shared interests in Syria, Lebanon, Gaza and beyond" and "also emphasized the threats posed by Iran and its proxies."
Israeli security forces have killed two Palestinians who carried out a deadly attack on a bus in the West Bank earlier this month, the Israeli military said today.
The statement said the two men, Mohammed Nazal and Katiba al-Shalabi, exchanged fire with Israeli troops in the West Bank village of Burkin before being killed. The military said one of its soldiers was wounded and that the attackers were members of the Islamic Jihad group.
The militant group Hamas released a statement claiming the two men were members of its armed wing. Hamas and the smaller, more radical Islamic Jihad are allies who sometimes carry out attacks together.
In the January 6th attack on a bus carrying Israelis, three people were killed and six were wounded.
(BETA)
The Israeli military said on Wednesday it had killed a member of the radical Palestinian organization Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip, marking the first such reported death since the start of a ceasefire with Hamas in the Palestinian territory.
The ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah is due to be fully implemented by the end of January. So far, it is largely being respected, but both sides are only partially fulfilling their obligations. What next?
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Al Jazeera news network said today that Palestinian authorities have arrested its reporter Mohammed al-Atrash after preventing him from reporting on an Israeli operation in the occupied West Bank.
The statement said that Palestinian security forces had previously prevented the journalist from reporting on a major Israeli military operation in Jenin, the epicenter of Israeli-Palestinian violence in recent years.
Palestinian authorities launched a crackdown against armed individuals in the city late last year.
They did not comment on this incident.
Both Israel and the Palestinian Authority banned Al Jazeera last year. Israel accuses it of being a mouthpiece for Hamas over its coverage of the war in the Gaza Strip and says some of its reporters are also militants.
Al Jazeera rejected the allegations and accused Israel and the Palestinian Authority of trying to silence objective reporting.
The Palestinian Authority governs parts of the occupied West Bank and cooperates with Israel on security issues. It is unpopular among Palestinians and critics describe it as corrupt.
(BETA)
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