At least 20 people have been killed in Israel’s largest military operation in the occupied territory in decades.
Israel’s military is conducting raids in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank, blocking access to aid for Palestinians in the besieged refugee camp on the fourth day of its assault.
Dozens of Israeli soldiers were stationed on the outskirts of the Jenin refugee camp, media Arabic reported on Saturday, with Israeli military bulldozers and armoured carriers also seen.
Israeli forces blew up homes in the Jabriyat neighbourhood of the camp as they extended their largest military assault on Palestinian territory in more than 20 years.
“Palestinian residents continue to plea to have access to food, water and paramedics, all of whom are being obstructed from entry into the refugee camp,” said media’s Nour Odeh, reporting from Jenin.
“This is day four, and the residents of the refugee camp have pretty much no access to any outside help,” she added.
Several gun battles between Palestinian fighters and Israeli soldiers have been reported in Jenin, Odeh reported, adding that videos on social media show extensive damage in the area.
The armed wing of Hamas said its members have “engaged in armed clashes” with Israeli forces in the village of Kafr Dan, which is located in the west of the West Bank city.
Israeli troops, along with armoured vehicles, drones and bulldozers, on Wednesday launched simultaneous raids in Jenin, Tulkarem and Tubas.
Palestinian residents say that the trail of destruction left behind by the military incursion – which has destroyed infrastructure, roads, water and electricity facilities – suggests that the army’s goal is to make the territory inhabitable and push Palestinians out of their homes.
In the south of the West Bank, tensions ratcheted up after Israeli soldiers shot dead two Palestinians suspected of attempting to attack Israelis in two separate incidents late on Friday.
The army said in a statement that troops responding to a vehicle catching fire and exploding at a gas station in the southern Gush Etzion junction killed a suspected assailant “who exited the vehicle and attempted to attack” the soldiers.
Two attacks in illegal settlements
In a second incident, assailants rammed a car into the gates leading into the illegal settlement of Karmei Tzur and infiltrated the area. One assailant was killed.
Security forces have been dispatched to the area in search of other assailants, the army said.
The continuing raids are the largest and most violent since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza. The parallel conflict unfolding in the West Bank has killed about 600 Palestinians, according to figures from the United Nations Humanitarian Affairs office.
The number of detentions since the beginning of the West Bank assault has risen to about 70, according to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society and the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs.
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