Israel Rolls Into the West Bank

Israel launched a large-scale military operation in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, where its forces killed at least nine Palestinians and sealed off the volatile city of Jenin. Israel has carried out near-daily raids across the West Bank since Hamas' Oct. 7 attack out of Gaza triggered the ongoing war there, reports the AP. Israel says it is rooting out militants to prevent attacks on its citizens, while Palestinians in the West Bank fear it intends to broaden the war and forcibly displace them. Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli military rep, said that "large forces" entered the volatile city of Jenin, which has long been a militant stronghold, as well as Tulkarem and the Al-Faraa refugee camp.

He said the nine dead were militants, including three killed in an airstrike in Tulkarem and another four in an airstrike in Al-Faraa. He said another five suspected militants were arrested, and that the raids were the first stage of a larger operation aimed at preventing attacks on Israelis. Palestinian militant groups said they were exchanging fire with Israeli troops. The governor of Jenin, Kamal Abu al-Rub, said on Palestinian radio that Israeli forces had surrounded the city, blocking exit and entry points and access to hospitals, and ripping up infrastructure in the camp. The Palestinian Health Ministry in the West Bank said Israeli forces had blocked the roads leading to a hospital and surrounded other medical facilities in Jenin.

"We must deal with the threat just as we deal with the terrorist infrastructure in Gaza, including the temporary evacuation of Palestinian residents and whatever steps might be required. This is a war in every respect," Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz wrote on X. Hamas called on Palestinians in the West Bank to rise up, saying the raids are part of a larger plan to expand the war in Gaza and blaming the escalation on US support for Israel. The militant group called on security forces loyal to the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, which cooperate with Israel, to "join the sacred battle of our people." Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a Palestinian Authority rep, condemned the raids as a "serious escalation" and called on the United States to intervene.

(More West Bank stories.)