Israel launched a significant military operation in several areas of the northern occupied West Bank early Wednesday, with Palestinian health authorities reporting at least 10 fatalities.
The Israeli military confirmed that it had carried out a large-scale counter-terror operation overnight in collaboration with the Israeli Security Agency (ISA) in the Jenin and Tulkarem areas of the West Bank.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz stated in a post on X that the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) had been operating with significant force in the refugee camps of Jenin and Tul Karm to dismantle what he described as Islamic-Iranian terror infrastructures established there.
Katz accused Iran of operating in the West Bank by “funding and arming terrorists and smuggling advanced weapons via Jordan.” He emphasized the need to address this threat in the same way as dealing with terror infrastructure in Gaza, including measures such as the temporary evacuation of Palestinian residents.
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health and the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS), at least five Palestinians were killed near the town of Tubas and another five in the Jenin area. The PRCS reported that two of those killed in Jenin were due to Israeli military fire, while three others were killed in a drone strike on a vehicle on the outskirts of the town. The strike also critically injured one person.
