The Palestinian health ministry stated that fifteen Palestinians were murdered by Israeli forces on Thursday throughout the occupied West Bank, while AFP reporters reported fierce fighting in Jenin.
They heard many explosions and shooting, and they observed black smoke rising over Jenin, a militant stronghold in the northern West Bank.
In a statement, the health ministry reported that during fighting with the Israeli army in Jenin, 11 Palestinians lost their lives and more than 20 were injured.
The Israeli army made the announcement that its personnel were present in the city, but it gave no other information. In the afternoon, AFP journalists witnessed Israeli forces in Jenin.
Separately, four Palestinians were killed in violence elsewhere in the West Bank, the health ministry said.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army on the deaths reported by the ministry in Balata refugee camp near Nablus, Al-Amari refugee camp near Ramallah and Beit Fajar and Dura in the southern West Bank.
Israeli forces in Jenin have killed dozens of Palestinians in recent months, particularly in the city’s refugee camp where armed groups are present alongside tens of thousands of residents.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and its troops regularly launch raids across the Palestinian territory.
Since war erupted on October 7 between Israel and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, Israeli forces have arrested more than 2,000 people across the West Bank and annexed east Jerusalem, according to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club advocacy group.
According to the Israeli military, there are just 1,400 or so people in the West Bank, and the majority of them are members of Hamas, the violent Palestinian organization that controls Gaza.
Since October 7, at least 170 Palestinians and three Israelis have died in the West Bank, according to officials from both sides.
Attacks on October 7 by Hamas terrorists headquartered in Gaza marked the start of the Gaza war; according to Israeli sources, over 1,400 people were murdered, the majority of them civilians.
Israel, promising to crush Hamas in retaliation, unleashed heavy airstrikes and a ground invasion of Gaza, killing around 10,800 people, the majority of them were civilians, according to the health ministry in the region controlled by Hamas.
