LAST UPDATE | 29 Aug
ISRAEL HAS PRESSED a large-scale military operation in the occupied West Bank in the last two days, killing at least 16 Palestinians, despite UN concerns it was “fuelling an already explosive situation”.
A “counter-terrorism” operation underway across the northern West Bank since early yesterday has killed 16 Palestinians, the Israeli military said. The Palestinian health ministry gave the same figure, after both revised earlier tolls.
The raids on several towns and refugee camps in the West Bank were launched as violence meanwhile raged on in Gaza.
In the West Bank, columns of Israeli armoured vehicles backed by troops and aircraft were sent in before soldiers encircled refugee camps in Tubas and Tulkarem, as well as Jenin, and exchanged fire with Palestinian militants.
The army said it killed seven militants today, including five militants in the Tulkarem refugee camp.
A military statement said one of the five was Muhammad Jaber, also known as Abu Shujaa, who Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad said was its commander in the nearby Nur Shams refugee camp.
Two other militants were killed in Jenin on Thursday, the army said.
United Nations chief Antonio Guterres called for an “immediate cessation of these operations”, which were “fuelling an already explosive situation in the occupied West Bank”.
The violence has caused significant destruction, especially in Tulkarem, whose governor Mustafa Taqatqa described the raids as “unprecedented” and a “dangerous signal”.
The UN humanitarian office OCHA said “Israeli forces have repurposed homes as military positions” and were “effectively besieging” several medical facilities.
AFPTV footage showed bulldozers ripping up the asphalt from streets in the city. Widespread damage was reported to infrastructure.
Witnesses said the Israeli forces had withdrawn from Al-Farra refugee camp in Tubas where several Palestinians were killed on Wednesday, including two teenagers according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.
Later yesterday, residents told AFP that troops were leaving the Tulkarem area as well. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
AFP correspondents said clashes were ongoing in Jenin.
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Club advocacy group said at least 45 people had been detained in the West Bank since yesterday. An Israeli military spokesman said “10 wanted individuals were arrested”.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II appealed for a ceasefire in Gaza to stop the spread of violence and Iran’s foreign ministry condemned the Israeli operation as a “continuation of the genocide in the Gaza Strip”.
The UN yesterday said at least 637 Palestinians had been killed in the West Bank by Israeli troops or settlers since the Gaza war began on 7 October.
19 Israelis, including soldiers, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during army operations over the same period, according to Israeli official figures.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, when it also seized the Gaza Strip, from which it withdrew troops and settlers in 2005 but later imposed a crippling blockade followed by a siege shortly after the 7 October attack.
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