Nine Palestinians have reportedly been killed following Israel’s deployment of troops into the West Bank on Wednesday for a counter-terrorist operation.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have confirmed their presence in the cities of Jenin and Tulkarm, although specific details have not been disclosed.
According to the Palestinian health ministry, two individuals, Qassam Muhammad Jabarin, 25, and Asem Walid Balout, 39, were killed in Jenin, with seven others reported dead in Tubas early Wednesday.
Contrary to the Gaza health ministry, the Palestinian health ministry is under the control of Fatah, not Hamas.
The ministry claims that 600 Palestinians have lost their lives in the West Bank since Hamas initiated attacks on Israel on Oct. 7.
Israel has stated that it is targeting terrorist groups, with some of these groups acknowledging engagement in fire exchanges with the IDF on Wednesday.
IDF Surrounds Jenin
The governor of Jenin, Kamal Abu al-Rub, informed a Palestinian radio station that the IDF had imposed a blockade on the city, restricting access to hospitals.
During the Six Day War in 1967, Israel gained control of east Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza after defeating a coalition of Jordan, Egypt, and Syria.
In 2005, then-Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon withdrew Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip and evacuated certain settlements in the area.
Following clashes with Fatah, Gaza fell under the control of Hamas, subsequent to the death of Fatah’s leader, Yasser Arafat, in 2004.
In 1993, Arafat signed the Oslo Peace Accords, intended to establish a two-state solution, which ultimately failed after Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination and a series of suicide bombings that claimed numerous Israeli lives. This led to the construction of a security wall dividing the West Bank from Israel.
Fatah retained political authority in the West Bank, where Israel has constructed numerous settlements accommodating 500,000 Jewish settlers.
These settlements are deemed illegal by international law, yet Israel has disregarded calls from the United Nations, the European Union, and the United States to halt construction.
In 2016, the UN Security Council passed a resolution reaffirming the illegitimacy of Israel’s settlement establishment in Palestinian territories since 1967, including East Jerusalem, as a violation of international law.
The United States abstained from voting on this resolution.
On Tuesday, the IDF announced the successful rescue of Qaid Farhan Alkadi, a 52-year-old ethnic Bedouin who had been held hostage in a Gaza tunnel since Oct. 7, during a complex operation in the southern Gaza Strip.
Associated Press and Reuters have contributed to this report.
