Jerusalem: At least nine Palestinians have been killed in raids by Israeli forces on the Palestinian city of Jenin on Monday– one of the large-scale attacks into the occupied West Bank in twenty years.
More than 50 people were injured in the attack that included rare air strikes, with the death toll likely to rise, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The Israeli military said it launched “intensive efforts to combat terrorism in the Jenin city and Jenin camp area,” targeting the “terror infrastructure”.
Lynn Hastings, the UN’s resident humanitarian coordinator, described “alarm” at the “scale of Israeli forces operation in Jenin”, adding on Twitter, “Airstrikes were used in the densely populated refugee camp. Several dead and critically wounded. Access to all injured must be ensured.”
Al Jazeera Jerusalem bureau chief reports 150 armoured vehicles, 1,000 soldiers, intelligence, police, and border police involved in the operation.
Israel’s air defence systems have been alerted to possible rocket fire from the blockaded Gaza Strip after several Palestinian factions vowed retaliation.
The attacks came amid escalating violence in the West Bank, including the first Israeli drone attack in the area since 2006, an increase in military raids and settler attacks.
Jenin has witnessed several Israeli raids in the past year, and residents have been linked to multiple attacks on Israelis.
Monday’s incident brought the death toll of Palestinians killed this year in the West Bank to 140.
