Israeli operations expanded in the West Bank on Thursday during the second day of Israel’s largest attack on the occupied territory since the Second Intifada.
According to the Palestinian news agency WAFA, at least 18 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since Israel launched the assault early Wednesday.
The attack is focused on the northern areas of the West Bank. WAFA reported that Israeli forces withdrew from Tublus but expanded the assault in Jenin and Tulkarm, and raids were also reported in southern parts of the territory, including Hebron and near Bethlehem.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad confirmed some of their fighters were killed in Tulkarm’s Nur Shams refugee camp, saying they died “after a heroic battle against the soldiers of the occupation.”
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WAFA reported that Israeli forces expanded their assault on Tulkarm to include the Tulkarm Camp. Israel sent reinforcements to Jenin, and the city and its refugee camp remain under siege.
Jenin Governor Kamal Abu al-Rub told WAFA that Israeli soldiers forced a number of citizens to evacuate their homes and turned them into military barracks. They were told they couldn’t return to their homes for four days.
On Wednesday, after Israel launched the attack, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said the West Bank must be dealt with the same way as Gaza and called for the evacuation of Palestinians.
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“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 are required,” Katz wrote on X. “This is a war for all terms and purposes and we must win it.”
Israeli military and settler attacks against Palestinians have surged amid Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. The latest violence brings the total number of Palestinians killed in the territory since October 7 to 668.