Israeli forces killed at least nine Palestinians and wounded 20 during an attack on the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.
Palestinian officials said an elderly woman was among the dead in the latest raid since Israel intensified such operations last year.
The Israeli military said in a statement that its forces carried out a counter-terrorist operation to arrest a “terrorist squad” belonging to the Islamic Jihad armed group.
Islamic Jihad confirmed the fight with Israeli forces as they carried out an unusually deep attack on a refugee camp in Jenin. The death toll – the highest in Jenin in years – prompted the group to warn that its truce with Israel, called after a brief exchange of fire across Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip last year, could be in jeopardy.
During the raid, local youths threw stones at military vehicles from the entrance to the narrow alleys of the camp. As Israeli troops retreated and the smoke and tear gas cleared, civilians rushed into the camp to check for casualties. The two-story building that was the focus of the fighting was heavily damaged.
There were no Israeli casualties.
Doctors said the situation in the refugee camp was critical and that Israeli forces were stopping ambulances from reaching the wounded.
The number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces during raids in the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem in January has risen to at least 29, including five minors. At least 15 of those killed were from Jenin. More than 170 Palestinians, many of whom were civilians, were killed in such attacks in 2022.