The Israel Defense Forces said Sunday that it has killed over 50 Palestinian terror operatives in the northern West Bank since launching a major counterterrorism offensive nearly two weeks ago.
Over 35 gunmen were killed by troops during operations in Jenin, Tulkarem, and the Tamun area, while another 15 were killed in drone strikes, the military said.
The IDF has acknowledged mistakenly killing several civilians amid the operation, including a toddler.
More than 100 wanted Palestinians have been detained, and troops have seized some 40 weapons and neutralized over 80 explosive devices during the operation, according to the IDF.
The offensive, dubbed Operation Iron Wall, was launched on January 21, and the military expects it to last several more weeks.
The operation, which has primarily focused on the city and refugee camp of Jenin, was expanded to Tulkarem last week, and to Tamun on Saturday night.
The IDF says it demolished 23 buildings in the West Bank’s Jenin refugee camp which were used by terror operatives.
Troops have scanned hundreds of buildings in Jenin during an ongoing raid there, locating bomb-making labs, caches of weapons, and command centers, the military says.
Huge columns of smoke billowed over the surrounding area following the blasts.
The Palestinian official news agency, WAFA, said Israeli forces “simultaneously detonated about 20 buildings” in the eastern part of Jenin refugee camp, adding that the “explosions were heard throughout the city of Jenin and parts of the neighboring towns.”
Witnesses reported a “large” deployment of Israeli forces in the morning around the towns of Tubas and Tamun, southeast of Jenin.
The Palestinian health ministry said that an elderly man — named as Walid Lahlouh, 73 — was killed by Israeli fire in Jenin on Sunday. There was no immediate comment from the IDF.
The IDF also confirmed Sunday that it had targeted Palestinian terrorists in three separate aerial strikes, within several hours, in the northern West Bank, on Saturday night, including a cell that was on its way to carry out an imminent attack, confirming that it took out a prisoner set free as part of a 2023 deal with Hamas.
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