Israel kills 10 Hamas militants in large-scale operation on occupied West Bank
Israel has launched its largest military operation in the West Bank since the start of its war with Hamas, with some Palestinians fearing a repeat of the destruction seen in Gaza, ITV News' Debi Edward reports
At least ten Hamas militants have been killed in a large-scale operation unfolding across the occupied West Bank by Israeli forces.
"Large forces" had entered the cities of Jenin and Tulkarem, and the long-standing Al-Faraa refugee camp, Israeli military spokesperson Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani confirmed.
He said Israeli forces killed three militants in an airstrike in Tulkarem and four in an airstrike in Al-Faraa.
Another five suspected militants were arrested, he added, before confirming that the raids were the first stage of an even larger operation.
It comes as the US announced sanctions against an Israeli organisation, Hashomer Yosh, allegedly responsible for supporting settler violence in the West Bank against Palestinians.
The US stated that after 250 Palestinian residents of a West Bank village were forced to leave, Hashomer Yosh volunteers fenced off the village to prevent residents from returning.
It is alleged that the group also guarded the outposts of Israeli individuals sanctioned by the US.
The sanctions represent the latest wave from the US targeting Israel settler violence against Palestinians.
Officials also sanctioned an Israeli individual, Yitzhak Levi Filant, who allegedly “led a group of armed settlers to set up roadblocks and conduct patrols to pursue and attack Palestinians in their lands and forcefully expel them from their lands” in February.
Hamas announced that 10 of its fighters had been killed in the West Bank on Wednesday, three of whom had been killed in Jenin.
The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) has carried out near-daily raids across the West Bank since Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel triggered the ongoing war in Gaza.
Israel said it is rooting out militants to prevent attacks on its citizens, but Palestinians in the West Bank fear it intends to broaden the war and forcibly displace them.
The governor of Jenin, Kamal Abu al-Rub, said on Palestinian radio that Israeli forces had surrounded the city, blocking exit and entry points and access to hospitals, and ripping up infrastructure in the camp.
Army vehicles could be seen blocking all the entrances to the Al-Faraa camp, while military jeeps and bulldozers drove through and soldiers patrolled its alleyways by foot.
Palestinian health officials say that over 600 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since conflict broke out in Gaza last year, most from raids into Palestinian cities and towns that Israel says target militant groups.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz drew comparisons with Gaza and called for similar measures in the West Bank.
In a post on X, he wrote: “We must deal with the threat just as we deal with the terrorist infrastructure in Gaza, including the temporary evacuation of Palestinian residents and whatever steps might be required. This is a war in every respect, and we must win it."
An Israeli military spokesperson said there were no plans to evacuate civilians.
Hamas called on Palestinians in the West Bank to rise up, saying the raids are part of a larger plan to expand the war beyond Gaza. It blamed the escalation on US support for Israel.
The militant group called on security forces loyal to the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, which cooperate with Israel, to “join the sacred battle of our people".
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, condemned the raids as a “serious escalation” and called on the United States to intervene.
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The West Bank was captured by Israel along with Gaza and east Jerusalem in 1967. Israel has since built scores of settlements across the West Bank, which are home to over 500,000 Jewish settlers.
They have Israeli citizenship, while the 3 million Palestinians in the West Bank live under Israeli military rule, with the Palestinian Authority exercising limited control over parts of the territory.
The reports came a day after the Israeli military said it had rescued a hostage who was among scores of people abducted in Hamas’ October 7 attack.
Qaid Farhan Alkadi, 52, was rescued “in a complex operation in the southern Gaza Strip,” the military said on Tuesday.
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