The Israeli military said yesterday it had launched an operation in the occupied West Bank’s Jenin that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said aimed to “eradicate fighters” in the area.
The Palestinian health ministry, based in Ramallah, said the operation had killed nine people, just days after a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect in the Gaza Strip.
In a joint statement, the military and the Shin Bet security agency said that, alongside the Israeli Border Police, they had launched an operation dubbed “Iron Wall” in Jenin.
In a statement released shortly after the launch of the operation, Netanyahu said the raid aimed to “eradicate fighters” in Jenin and was part of a broader strategy to counter Iran.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said its first responders treated seven people injured by live ammunition and that Israeli forces were hindering their access to the area.
Jenin governor Kamal Abu al-Rub said the operation was “an invasion of the (refugee) camp”.
“It came quickly, Apache helicopters in the sky and Israeli military vehicles everywhere,” he added.
An AFP journalist said Palestinian security forces, who had been conducting an operation against armed factions in the area since early December, left some of their positions around the camp before the arrival of Israeli forces. He reported the frequent sound of explosions and gunfire echoing from the camp.
The spokesman for the Palestinian security forces, Anwar Rajab, said in a statement that Israeli forces had “opened fire on civilians and security forces, resulting in injuries to several civilians and a number of security personnel, one of whom is in critical condition”.
Jenin and its refugee camp are known bastions of Palestinian fighters and Israeli forces frequently launch raids against factions there.
In recent months, raids have increased in frequency and intensity in Jenin.
Military raids often feature military bulldozers that dig up roads, in what Israel says is a way of removing buried explosives, often leaving whole neighbourhoods cut off from each other.
Jenin’s governor said that several bulldozers had entered the city yesterday.
Violence has soared throughout the West Bank since the war in Gaza broke out on October 2023.
Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 847 Palestinians in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war, according to the health ministry.

Israeli forces in armoured vehicles drive past Palestinians during a military raid in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank, yesterday.