The Israeli military has called in reinforcements and intensified its offensive in the occupied West Bank for the second consecutive day. According to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, at least 12 people have been killed since the operation began. Additionally, over 20 Palestinians, including children, have been arrested by Israeli forces, according to the Commission for Detainee and Ex-Detainee Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society, who warn that the number may rise due to ongoing raids.
In the Nur Shams refugee camp, the Israeli military claimed on Thursday to have killed five Palestinian fighters who were hiding in a mosque. Among the deceased was the commander of the Tulkarem Battalion, Mohamed Jaber, also known as Abu Shuja’a. The military stated that Abu Shuja’a was responsible for the killing of an Israeli man in Qalqilya in June.
Israeli raids began on Wednesday in areas such as Jenin, Tulkarem, and the Far’a refugee camp near Tubas, marking the most significant military operation in the region in 20 years. The military claims that the offensive targets “armed terrorists posing a threat to security forces.” Al Jazeera’s reporter Nida Ibrahim, reporting from Tulkarem, noted that while Israeli military operations have been conducted daily, this particular operation is of a “different scale,” as forces have simultaneously raided four refugee camps. “There is a lot of fear and anxiety among the residents,” she stated.
The operations expanded overnight to the area south of Bethlehem, including the Arroub refugee camp, north of Hebron, the city of Nablus, and the village of Nabi Saleh, northwest of Ramallah, according to Wafa. Ibrahim also remarked that the escalation did not come as a surprise to Palestinians, who have witnessed a rise in raids since October 7.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that since the onset of Israel’s war against Gaza on October 7, 136 Palestinians have been killed and 41 injured by Israeli airstrikes. All but one of these fatalities occurred in the northern governorates of the occupied West Bank.
In a statement, Amnesty International condemned Israel’s military offensive, describing it as a “horrific increase in lethal force.” “It is likely that these operations will result in an increase in forced displacement, destruction of critical infrastructure, and collective punishment measures, which have been key pillars of Israel’s system of apartheid against Palestinians and the illegal occupation of Palestinian territory,” stated Erika Guevara Rosas, Amnesty’s senior director for research, advocacy, policy, and campaigns.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz suggested on Wednesday the possibility of the forced displacement of Palestinians. He wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter) that combating the threat from “terrorist environments” in the Jenin and Tulkarem refugee camps, by any necessary means, includes “intense fighting” and “in some cases… allowing the population to temporarily evacuate from one neighbor to another within the refugee camp.” Israel’s temporary evacuation orders have been repeatedly used in Gaza, displacing tens of thousands of people to so-called “humanitarian safe zones,” which are then subjected to military attacks.
Palestinian rights groups, including the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, Al-Haq, and the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, warned on Thursday that Israeli tactics in the area “mirror” those used in what they described as the “genocidal campaign in Gaza.”