Palestinian media reports say the Israeli military is deploying reinforcements to the West Bank city of Jenin.
In footage shared online, a large convoy of army vehicles, including bulldozers, is seen entering the area.
Israeli officials deny ordering residents of the Jenin refugee camp to evacuate, after Palestinian media said the IDF had ordered residents to leave the area.
Crowds of Palestinians are leaving Jenin, as Israeli forces crack down on terror groups in the West Bank city.
The IDF’s Arabic language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, says the evacuation reports are baseless.
Security officials tell the Ynet news site that the IDF did not issue an evacuation order, and that the Jenin residents are fleeing to escape the fighting.
Hundreds of armed terrorists are holed up in the crowded quarter of the city, the officials say, and Israel has indicated the operation will continue.
Military officials tell the Walla news site that hundreds of families have fled Jenin of their own accord to escape the fighting.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “is deeply concerned about the developments in Jenin,” according to a statement released by his office.
Guterres “affirms that all military operations must be conducted with full respect for international humanitarian law,” the statement says.
Asked about Israeli drone strikes, a spokesperson tells reporters, “It is not acceptable for there to be armed attacks in areas of high population density.”
“All parties need to abide by international humanitarian law,” the spokesperson says.
There is widespread agreement among Israeli political and security leaders that the counter-terror operation in Jenin should continue, the Kan public broadcaster reports.
A security official tells the network, “There are still many goals that Israel wants to achieve.”
The security official says messages are being sent to Gaza and Lebanon, telling terror groups in those areas to stay out of the fighting.
Turkey’s foreign ministry denounces Israel’s anti-terror operation in the West Bank city of Jenin.
“We strongly condemn the incursion carried out by the Israeli forces today,” the Turkish foreign ministry says in a statement.
“We are deeply concerned that the current tension in the region could trigger a new spiral of violence following these attacks, and we reiterate our call on the Israeli authorities to act with common sense and put an end to such actions,” it says.
“We wish Allah’s mercy upon our Palestinian brothers who lost their lives in the incident, a speedy recovery to the injured and extend our condolences to the State of Palestine and its people.”
At US embassy event, PM says those who want to hurt Israel will end in jail or a grave
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Monday afternoon said the Israeli army’s major operation in the West Bank city of Jenin was “progressing as planned,” according to remarks issued by his office.
“In the past few hours, we dealt a heavy blow to the terror organizations in Jenin and managed to record impressive operational achievements,” Gallant said following an assessment he held with military chief Lt. Gen Herzi Halevi and other senior officers.
More than 1,000 troops converge on West Bank city’s refugee camp, over 10 airstrikes carried out; follows weeks of speculation on major military operation
Israeli military forces launched a major operation in the West Bank city of Jenin early Monday morning focused on the city’s restive refugee camp, with airstrikes carried out against multiple targets.
A senior government official said that “the goal of this extensive operation is to end Jenin’s role as a ‘city of refuge’ for terror, and it will last as long as it needs to.”
The campaign appeared to be the largest in the West Bank in 20 years, and came as tensions were sky-high following a series of deadly terror attacks carried out by Palestinians from the Jenin area.
The Palestinian Authority health ministry said eight people were killed and at least 27 others were wounded, including seven Palestinians listed in serious condition.
The Israel Defense Forces confirmed that “security forces are now engaged in a widescale effort to thwart terror throughout Jenin” and had struck “terror infrastructure” in the city shortly after 1 a.m.
A major military operation in the northern West Bank city of Jenin, which saw some of the heaviest fighting in the area in two decades, will not be a one-off raid, a top general said Monday.
Throughout the operation on Monday, Israel Defense Forces troops who entered Jenin located weapon storage sites, explosives labs, and other “terror infrastructure,” clashed with armed Palestinians, and carried out airstrikes against various targets in Jenin, the IDF said in a statement.
“This operation doesn’t stand on its own. This day doesn’t stand on its own,” the chief of the military’s Central Command, Maj. Gen. Yehuda Fox, told reporters at the Salem checkpoint, some 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) from Jenin.
Israel launched the operation to crack down on what it says is a hotbed of terror in the city. A number of attacks on Israelis in recent years have been carried out by Palestinians from the area, and observers say the Palestinian Authority has little control on the ground.
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