Tel Aviv [Israel], January: At least nine Palestinians have been killed and 35 injured by Israeli security forces during a major operation in Jenin in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military, police and Shin Bet security service had launched an "extensive and significant" operation to "defeat terrorism" in Jenin, which is seen as a stronghold of Palestinian armed groups.
Palestinian media said Israeli forces moved into Jenin and its refugee camp following several drone strikes.
It comes just three days after the start of a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel in Gaza and highlights the threat of more violence in the West Bank. Israeli media cited a military source as saying that the goals of the operation were to preserve its "freedom of action" in the West Bank, dismantle armed groups' infrastructure, and eliminate imminent threats. The source also said the operation would continue for "as long as necessary".
Jenin's governor, Kamal Abu al-Rub, told AFP news agency that "what is happening is an invasion of the camp".
"It came quickly, Apache [helicopters] in the sky and Israeli military vehicles everywhere," he added.
The official Palestinian news agency, Wafa, cited local sources as saying that Israeli forces were "completely besieging" Jenin camp, and that armoured bulldozers had dug up several streets.
It also cited the director of Jenin's Government hospital, Wissam Bakr, as saying that three doctors and two nurses were among those wounded by Israeli gunfire.
The Israeli raid follows a weeks-long operation by Palestinian security forces against armed groups in Jenin camp that sought to restore the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority's control.
Hamas condemned the Israeli operation in Jenin and called on Palestinians in the West Bank to escalate attacks against Israeli forces there in response.
In another development in the West Bank overnight, groups of masked Israeli settlers attacked Palestinians, smashing cars and burning homes.
Source: Qatar Tribune
