Israeli forces launched what a military source said is its largest military operation in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin in more than 20 years, killing at least eight people and injuring more than 50 others, according to Palestinian officials.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement it launched the “extensive counterterrorism effort in the area of the city of Jenin and the Jenin Camp,” striking “terrorist infrastructure.”
The IDF carried out at least 10 airstrikes and hundreds of soldiers targeted what it said was militant “command and control” center as well as weapons and explosive manufacturing sites.
Videos obtained by CNN from Jenin show Israeli bulldozers tearing up streets to disarm IEDs, as well as Israeli tanks outside the city limits. Residents told CNN they heard explosions and heavy gunfire in the area, while video from the scene showed wounded Palestinians being evacuated by ambulance to Jenin Government Hospital.
Of those injured, 10 are “in serious condition,” the Palestinian Ministry of Health said early afternoon Monday. Mahmoud al-Saadi, director of the Palestinian Red Crescent in Jenin, said most of the injuries are “serious and in the upper part of the body,” adding the process of transferring the injured has been difficult.
Five of those killed were teenagers, the ministry said.
A ninth Palestinian was shot and killed by Israeli forces near Ramallah in the West Bank in a separate incident, according to the health authorities.
Israeli army radio described at least eight of those killed in Jenin as “militants” but no militant group has yet to claim those killed as members.
The raid sparked immediate condemnation. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called the large-scale Israeli military operation “a new war crime.”
Raneen Sawafta/Reuters
Tires were set on fire on a street during the attacks on Jenin.
“Security and stability will not be achieved in the region unless our Palestinian people feel it. What the Israeli occupation government is doing in the city of Jenin and its camp is a new war crime against our defenseless people,” he said, according to presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh.
Egypt also condemned the Israeli incursion, calling it an act of “aggression.”
“The Arab Republic of Egypt condemns with the strongest words the aggression conducted by the Israeli forces in Jenin city in the occupied West Bank which led to the death of 5 and the injury of 27 from the Palestinian people so far,” the Egyptian Twitter government account said.
Humanitarian access
The UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland said he had been in direct contact with all relevant parties to urgently de-escalate the situation in Jenin and ensure humanitarian access.
“The operation comes after months of growing tension that once again reminds us of the extremely volatile & unpredictable situation across the occupied West Bank. All must ensure the civilian population is protected,” Wennesland said.
However, Israeli forces prevented Red Crescent crews from entering Jenin, according to al-Saadi. Israeli forces obstructed the ambulances’ access to the injured and raised arms against them, he said in a statement.
“The ambulance crews managed to evacuate a number of the injured they were able to access. The paramedic crews were brought from other governorates to provide help,” al-Saadi said.
CNN has reached out to the IDF for comment.
The director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in the West Bank, Adam Bouloukos, said the Israeli operation and the response of “armed actors” in Jenin has “tragic consequences” for Palestinian refugees.
“Humanitarian access is most urgent now,” Bouloukos said on Twitter.
The White House is also “closely” monitoring the situation in Israel, a National Security Council spokesperson told CNN.
The spokesperson added broadly, “We support Israel’s security and right to defend its people against Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and other terrorist groups.”
As of 6:00 p.m. local time, the operations were ongoing with the Israeli military saying it was continuing to engage in firefights with armed militants, including at a mosque.
The raid comes less than two weeks after an Israeli military raid on Jenin erupted into a massive firefight, leaving at least five Palestinians dead and dozens wounded. Eight Israeli troops were injured in that operation and successfully evacuated, according to the IDF.
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Militants set off powerful IEDs against Israeli troops, while the Israeli military used an Apache helicopter to provide gun cover for soldiers, for the first time in decades.
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