Israel targets West Bank militant stronghold with drones and hundreds of troops

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli drones struck targets successful a militant stronghold successful the occupied West Bank aboriginal Monday and hundreds of troops were deployed successful the area, an incursion that resembled the wide-scale subject operations carried retired during the 2nd Palestinian uprising 2 decades ago. Palestinian wellness officials said astatine slightest 5 Palestinians were killed.

Troops remained wrong the Jenin exile campy Monday, pushing up with the largest cognition successful the country during much than a twelvemonth of fighting. It came astatine a clip of increasing home unit for a pugnacious effect to a bid of attacks connected Israeli settlers – including a shooting onslaught past week that killed 4 people.

Black fume roseate from the crowded streets of the campy arsenic the subject pressed on. Electricity was chopped disconnected successful immoderate parts and subject bulldozers were plowing done constrictive streets — different reminder of Israel's incursions during the past uprising. The Palestinians and neighboring Jordan condemned the violence.

Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, an service spokesman, said the cognition began conscionable aft 1 a.m. with an airstrike connected a gathering utilized by militants for readying attacks. He said the extremity of the cognition was to destruct and confiscate weapons.

"We're not readying to clasp ground," helium said. "We're acting against circumstantial targets."

He said that a brigade-sized unit — astir 2,000 soldiers — was taking portion successful the operation, and that subject drones had carried retired a bid of strikes to wide the mode for the crushed forces. Although Israel has carried retired isolated airstrikes successful the West Bank successful caller weeks, Hecht said Monday's bid of strikes marked an escalation unseen since 2006 — the extremity of the Palestinian uprising.

While Israel described the onslaught arsenic a pinpoint operation, fume billowed from wrong the crowded camp, with mosque minarets nearby. Ambulances raced toward a hospital, wherever the wounded were brought successful connected stretchers.

Armored bulldozers drove done constrictive streets to wide the mode for troops, damaging spot successful their path. Residents reported energy was chopped disconnected successful ample areas of the camp.

According to the authoritative Palestinian quality bureau Wafa, the subject blocked roads wrong the camp, took implicit houses and buildings and acceptable up snipers connected rooftops.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said astatine slightest 5 Palestinians were killed and 27 injured Monday, 3 of them critically. Hecht said arsenic galore arsenic 7 militants were believed dead.

In a abstracted incident, a 21-year-old Palestinian was killed by Israeli occurrence adjacent the West Bank metropolis of Ramallah, the ministry said.

"Our Palestinian radical volition not kneel, volition not surrender, volition not rise the achromatic flag, and volition stay steadfast connected their onshore successful the look of this brutal aggression," Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesperson for the Palestinian president, said successful a statement.

Jordan called for Israel to halt its raids into the West Bank.

The Jenin campy and an adjacent municipality of the aforesaid sanction person been a flashpoint arsenic Israeli-Palestinian unit escalated since the outpouring of 2022. Jenin has agelong been a bastion for equipped conflict against Israel and was a large friction constituent successful the past Palestinian uprising.

In 2002, days aft a Palestinian termination bombing during a ample Passover gathering killed 30 people, Israeli troops launched a monolithic cognition successful the Jenin camp. For 8 days and nights they fought militants thoroughfare by street, utilizing armored bulldozers to destruct rows of homes, galore of which had been booby-trapped.

Monday's raid came 2 weeks aft different convulsive confrontation successful Jenin and aft the subject said a rocket was fired from the country past week, which landed successful the West Bank.

"There has been a dynamic present astir Jenin for the past year," Hecht said, defending Monday's tactics. "It's been intensifying each the time."

But determination besides whitethorn person been governmental considerations astatine play. Leading members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right government, which is dominated by West Bank settlers and their supporters, person been calling for a broader subject effect to the ongoing unit successful the area.

"Proud of our heroes connected each fronts and this greeting particularly of our soldiers operating successful Jenin," National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, an ultranationalist who precocious called for Israel to termination "thousands" of militants if necessary, tweeted. "Praying for their success."

Monday's events bring the decease toll of Palestinians killed this twelvemonth successful the West Bank to 133, portion of much than a yearlong spike successful unit that has seen immoderate of the worst bloodshed successful that country successful astir 2 decades.

The outburst of unit escalated past twelvemonth aft a spate of Palestinian attacks prompted Israel to measurement up its raids successful the West Bank.

Israel says the raids are meant to bushed backmost militants. The Palestinians accidental specified unit is inevitable successful the lack of immoderate governmental process with Israel and accrued West Bank colony operation and unit by extremist settlers. They spot the intensifying Israeli subject beingness successful the country arsenic an entrenchment of Israel's 56-year open-ended concern of the territory.

Israel says astir of those killed person been militants, but stone-throwing youths protesting the incursions and besides radical not progressive successful the confrontations person besides been killed.

Palestinian attacks against Israelis since the commencement of this twelvemonth person killed 24 people.

Israel captured the West Bank, eastbound Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip successful the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians question those territories for their hoped-for autarkic state.