Raneen Sawafta/Portal
Tires are set on fire on a road July 3 during an Israeli military operation in Jenin in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
CNN –
According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, Israeli forces launched a major military operation in Jenin in the northern West Bank overnight on Sunday, killing at least three people and wounding 25 others.
In a statement posted to Telegram in the early hours of Monday morning, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said they had launched “extensive anti-terrorist operations in the area of the city of Jenin and the Jenin camp,” destroying “terrorist infrastructure ‘ attacked.
Residents in Jenin told CNN they heard explosions and heavy gunfire in the area, while video from the scene showed wounded Palestinians being evacuated by ambulance to Jenin government hospital.
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, seven of the injured are critical. Mahmoud al-Saadi, director of the Palestinian Red Crescent in Jenin, said most of the injuries were “severe and in the upper part of the body,” adding that the process of transporting the injured was difficult.
Footage shared with journalists Monday morning appeared to show ongoing operations in parts of the Jenin refugee camp and Israeli military vehicles on the streets of Jenin. CNN could not independently verify the videos.
The IDF said it attacked a joint operational command center for the Jenin camp and operatives from the Jenin Brigade, a Palestinian militant group linked to Islamic Jihad.
“The operational command center also served as an advanced observation and reconnaissance center, a place where armed terrorists would congregate before and after terrorist activities,” the IDF said, adding that the camp was a “site for weapons and explosives” and a “hub.” for…” be coordination and communication between the terrorists.”
“In addition, the command center provided protection for wanted persons involved in terrorist attacks in the area in recent months,” it said.
The IDF later said it had seized explosive devices during operations conducted in coordination with the Israel Securities and Exchange Commission (ISA).
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in a statement that the IDF had acted “against terrorist hotspots” in Jenin and that “anyone who harms the citizens of Israel will pay a heavy price.”
“We are closely monitoring the actions of our enemies, and Israel’s defense apparatus is prepared for any scenario,” the minister said.
The Jenin Brigade claimed to have severely damaged at least one Israeli military vehicle with improvised explosive devices, and its militants continue to clash with Israeli forces “to prevent their advance into the camp.”
In response to the Israeli operations in Jenin, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad said it would confront its enemy “with all possible retaliatory options.”
“The aggression against Jenin will not achieve its goals, Jenin will not capitulate. In response to enemy aggression on Jenin, we will face the enemy with all possible retaliatory measures,” the militant group posted on its official Telegram channel.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the large-scale Israeli military operation, calling it “a new war crime.”
“Security and stability in the region will not be achieved if our Palestinian people do not feel it. “What the Israeli occupation government is doing in the city of Jenin and its camp is a new war crime against our defenseless people,” he said, according to presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh.
The raid comes less than two weeks after an Israeli military attack on Jenin erupted into a massive firefight that killed at least five Palestinians and wounded dozens. According to the IDF, eight Israeli soldiers were injured and successfully evacuated.
In another incident, a 21-year-old man, identified as Muhammed Hassanein, was shot dead by Israeli forces at the northern entrance of Al-Bireh near Ramallah in the West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry said on Monday. The IDF has not yet commented on the incident.