Israeli authorities said their forces also launched air raids in the area of Al-Faraa refugee camp, just over 15 miles south of Jenin, in which Israeli authorities said four other armed militants were killed.
Kamal Abu al-Rub, the governor of Jenin, said on Palestinian radio that Israeli forces had surrounded the area and blocked off exit and entry points, as well as access to hospitals, The Associated Press reported. The staff at the hospital was later allowed to move freely after facing “severe restrictions” by Israeli forces, according to Medical Aid for Palestinians.
Israeli forces raided homes in the the Nur Shams camp in Tulkarem, searching from one house to another and detaining men found inside, according to Nihad Al-Shawish, the head of services at the camp. All access roads to the camp have been destroyed, Al-Shawish said.
Al-Shawish said hours before the raids began the camp was warned that civilians should consider evacuating the area by the Palestinian Authority’s liaison with Israel. The evacuations were not mandatory, he said.
Israel’s operation in the West Bank — one of two Palestinian territories occupied by the Israeli government — still raised fears of forcible displacement among Palestinians.
Youssef Barahmi told NBC News he could see the camp being “surrounded by the IDF,” from his home less than 2 miles away in the town of the same name.
The Palestinian Authority employee said his mother-in-law, who lives in the camp, had told him that Israeli forces were surrounding her house. He added that he was no longer able to reach her over the phone.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa’s office said in a statement that any incursion into hospitals was “a direct threat to the lives of patients and medical staff.” Israeli forces had blocked entry roads and besieged multiple medical facilities across the West Bank, the statement added.
‘Full-fledged war’
Katz made the connection between the raids in the West Bank and the war in Gaza. Palestinian health authorities say more than 40,000 people have been killed in the besieged enclave since Israel launched its offensive after the Oct. 7 terror attacks. Hamas’ assaults in southern Israel killed some 1,200 people and led to 250 others being taken hostage.
Katz said Israel must “address this threat in the same manner as we deal with terrorist infrastructures in Gaza, including the temporary evacuation of Palestinian residents and any other necessary measures.”
This is a “full-fledged war and we must win it,” he added.
Katz also said that the IDF was “operating with intensity” in Jenin and Tulkarem to stamp out “Islamic-Iranian terrorist infrastructures.”
Katz said that Iran was trying to establish “an eastern terrorist front” against Israel in the West Bank, and accused it of funding and arming militants and smuggling weapons from Jordan.
Israel frequently blames Iran for violence in the region. Tehran does not officially recognize Israel’s right to exist and has supported militant groups throughout the region, including Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah. The U.S. government has designated Iran one of the world’s leading state sponsors of terrorism.
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