At least 10 Palestinians were killed and 20 others injured in a raid by Israeli forces in the city of Jenin and a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.
Intense fighting was reported in the camp on Thursday. Black smoke was seen rising above the city amid multiple explosions and gunfire.
“Every now and then you can hear gunshots, there are explosions and you can listen to an Israeli military drone overhead,” Al Jazeera’s Bernard Smith reported from Jenin. “It all started early this morning with a raid on the camp. This is nothing unusual: raids are a reality in the occupied West Bank, especially here in Jenin.”
“But we are told that the army arrived and left behind the special forces who were looking for Palestinian fighters. Once they were spotted, special forces called for backup, and this major shootout has been going on ever since,” Smith said.
The Israeli military said it was carrying out counterterrorism raids in Jenin, but gave no further details.
“The Israeli army will always say that it is targeting what it calls ‘Palestinian terrorists,’ and that is the purpose of these raids. But since October 7, they have intensified their operations. Although they occur throughout the occupied West Bank, most of them are here in Jenin, where there are different armed groups,” according to Smith.
The Palestinian Wafa news agency reported that a large number of Israeli soldiers entered the camp, accompanied by a bulldozer. Snipers positioned themselves on rooftops as the bulldozer destroyed roads and infrastructure.
Palestinian media outlet Quds Network published footage of the moments after Israeli forces bombed a house in the Jenin camp.
In the video posted on social media, smoke can be seen coming from a building after it was hit by what the network describes as an Israeli drone. Shots were fired during the clashes that followed.
“Israeli raids in the occupied West Bank have intensified over the past three hours,” Al Jazeera’s Mohammed Jamjoom reported from Ramallah.
“Witnesses in Jenin are reporting explosions, at least five in the last half hour alone, and attributing them to armed Israeli drones,” he added.
“Israeli forces also dropped leaflets claiming that the raids would only intensify. »
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said a rescue worker was injured by live ammunition when an ambulance came under fire during the raid.
⭕️ PRCS: Paramedic Sabreen Obeidi was injured by live bullets in the back. 🚑 This happened when a PRCS ambulance was targeted during a raid by occupying forces in #Jenine Refugees camp.#NotATarget ❌#Palestine pic.twitter.com/pgvx1ZaNFg
– PRCS (@PalestineRCS) November 9, 2023
Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, condemned the deadly raid on the densely populated camp, where around 14,000 people live.
“The occupation that suffers defeat in Gaza will also suffer defeat in Jenin and will fail to break the will of our people, from Gaza to the West Bank,” the group said in a statement.
Dozens of Palestinians have been killed in recent months by Israeli forces in Jenin, particularly in the city’s refugee camp where armed groups are present alongside tens of thousands of residents.
Since the war began on October 7, Israeli forces have arrested more than 2,000 people in the West Bank, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Club advocacy group.
The Israeli military puts the number at more than 1,000 and says most are affiliated with Hamas.
At least 174 Palestinians and three Israelis have been killed in the West Bank since October 7, when Hamas launched an attack on southern Israel that killed more than 1,400 people, mostly civilians.
Since then, Israel has launched an air and ground attack on Gaza that has so far killed at least 10,812 Palestinians, including more than 4,400 children. At least 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza are now internally displaced, according to UN estimates, while much of the besieged territory lies in ruins.