Israeli forces conducted a massive attack on Jenin in the occupied West Bank, encircling several hospitals and killing at least five people.
According to Palestinian reports, at least 14 more people were hurt during the overnight and Friday strikes. After several hours, the attack on the Ibn Sina Hospital has come to a close.
A drone strike on the Jenin refugee camp claimed the lives of the five people who perished. As the battle in Gaza rages, airstrikes into the West Bank have increased in frequency.
Israeli forces reportedly blocked emergency personnel from getting to the injured, possibly endangering lives, according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.
From about 10.30pm on Thursday, the Israeli army pushed at least 80 military vehicles into the city of Jenin, raiding Palestinian homes and detaining several people. There were reports of violent clashes.
“Dozens of armoured vehicles turned up, with bulldozers as well, damaging cars, damaging the roads,” reported Al Jazeera’s Sara Khairat from occupied East Jerusalem. The raid lasted for about eight hours.
At least four hospitals were surrounded by Israeli soldiers.
“Israeli forces turned up at Ibn Sina Hospital, one of the biggest in the occupied West Bank. They turned up in a raid where they asked medical staff to put their hands up and evacuate the hospital,” Khairat said.
A number of doctors from the hospital refused to comply and evacuate; two paramedics were arrested, she added.
“It is important to note that this happened in Jenin refugee camp where clashes have been intense almost daily … But the nature of this particular raid is quite incredible, really. Not just it being a hospital but the way the Israeli forces are coming in,” Khairat continued.
The Israeli military said that it had exchanged fire with Palestinian fighters, who then used ambulances to flee towards Ibn Sina Hospital “in order to hide there”. One Palestinian fighter was arrested at the entrance of the medical facility, the army said.
Tensions have been high across the West Bank since Israel launched its war on Hamas on October 7, which has killed at least 11,500 people in the Gaza Strip.
Additionally, according to Wafa, on Friday, Israeli forces arrested at least 28 people after raiding multiple residences in the village of Ni’lin, which is west of Ramallah.
Israeli forces opened fire at a checkpoint in the West Bank on Thursday, killing three Palestinians. Israeli sources reported that one Israeli soldier had died in the attack.
Such attacks using small guns and explosives have grown in recent weeks amid increasing resentment over civilian fatalities in Gaza and the occupation of the West Bank, according to Zein Basravi of Al Jazeera, reporting from Ramallah in the West Bank.
“As Israel continues to turn up the heat, turn up the pressure on Palestinian communities, people are beginning to push back,” he said.
Since October 7, 203 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli raids in the West Bank.
