At least four Palestinians were killed and 28 others injured after Israel launched a major aerial and ground offensive in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, its biggest military operation in the Palestinian territory in years. The Palestinian health ministry said the death toll is likely to rise as violence continues to surge in the conflict with wide-scale military operations that resembled as one being carried out during the second Palestinian uprising two decades ago, as per a report by the Associated Press.
Gun battles and explosions continued into Monday morning in the raid the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said targeted a major command centre for the Jenin Brigades militant group in the city’s slum-like refugee camp, as per a Guardian report.
Thick black smoke erupted from burning tyres set alight by residents swirled through the streets while loudspeakers from mosques called for extending support to the fighters. Israeli soldiers encircled every entrance to the camp, the Guardian report added.
“What is going on in the refugee camp is real war,” said a Palestinian ambulance driver, Khaled Alahmad. “There were strikes from the sky. Every time we drive in around five to seven ambulances and we come back full with injured people.”
The attacks in Jenin triggered protests overnight across the West Bank, including a checkpoint near the city of Ramallah in which a Palestinian man died after being shot in the head by the army.
Israel’s air defence systems were put on alert for potential retaliatory rocket fire from the blockaded Gaza Strip after several Palestinian factions vowed revenge.
While Israel termed the attack as a pinpoint operation “acting against specific targets” smoke billowed from within the crowded camp, with mosque minarets nearby. Ambulances raced toward the hospital, where the wounded were in stretchers.
The operation disrupted life for local residents, with electricity cut off in some parts and a military bulldozer seen driving through narrow streets, stated the AP report.