Hundreds of Jenin residents left their homes on Thursday, prompted by messages from drones fitted with loudspeakers, witnesses said, as the military demolished a number of houses on the third day of a major operation in the West Bank city.
At least 21 Palestinians were injured, 11 severely, after dozens of Israeli civilians, some of whom were masked, arrived at the area of Al Funduq, in the West Bank, and "instigated riots, set property on fire and caused damage," according to the Israel Defense Forces.
The West Bank city of Jenin was the target of an ongoing Israeli "anti-terror" operation that claimed the lives of at least 10 Palestinians and injured as many as 40 others.
The Israeli military killed at least seven Palestinians in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday as the prime minister announced the start of a “large-scale military operation” in the restive city of Jenin.
At least 10 people have been killed in the raids, and more than 40 wounded, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Dozens have been arrested, Palestinian officials told the Wafa news agency.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the assault on Jenin would be “extensive and significant,” as the military erected new checkpoints across the West Bank.
The announcement came shortly after President Trump rescinded Biden-era sanctions on Israeli settlers and Jewish extremists raided Palestinian villages in protest against the cease-fire in Gaza.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday to reiterate Washington's support for its ally, and the two also discussed Iran and Israeli hostages in Gaza, the State Department said.
Israel's military campaign in the West Bank, coupled with the PA's complicity, sets the stage for a confrontation in Palestinian resistance.
Palestinian health workers say an Israeli strike on a built-up refugee camp in the occupied West Bank has killed two people as a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip entered a third day.
The Israeli military killed two Palestinian fighters in the West Bank that it said had been involved in a deadly shooting of Israeli civilians as a major" anti-terror" operation in Jenin entered a third day.