At least 11 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in the northern West Bank, Palestinian health officials said.
Five were reportedly killed in an airstrike on the al-Far’a refugee camp, and six in a drone strike and armed clashes in Jenin.
Israel’s security forces said they were conducting a “counter-terrorism operation to stop terrorists” in Jenin and Tulkarm.
This appears to be a major Israeli operation, as it targets at least four Palestinian cities at once – Jenin, Tulkarm, Nablus and Tubas.
It is believed to be the first time since the second intifada – the major Palestinian uprising from 2000 to 2005 – that several Palestinian cities have been targeted simultaneously in this way.
Palestinian reports say the main roads leading to Jenin have been blocked by armed clashes in the city’s refugee camp.
An Israeli air strike is said to have targeted a vehicle in a nearby area this morning.
Israeli soldiers reportedly entered a hospital in Jenin and detained two in Tulkarm.
Israeli military attacks in Nablus are reportedly targeting two refugee camps there.
In the Far’a camp near Tubas, health workers said ambulances were struggling to reach the wounded after the Israeli strike.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) “worked with full force since last night in the Jenin and Tulkarm refugee camps to dismantle the Iranian-Islamic terrorist infrastructure established there”.
The Israeli military gave few details but said in a statement that the IDF, the internal security organization Shin Bet and the Israeli Border Police are “currently conducting a counter-terrorism operation to stop terrorists in Jenin and Tulkarm”.
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