OAN Staff James Meyers
7:33 AM – Wednesday, August 28, 2024
Israel launched a large-scale military operation in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, where military forces killed at least nine Palestinians and sealed off the vulnerable city of Jenin, according to Palestinian officials.
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Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said the operation was part of a “fully-fledged war,” comparing the situation to the Gaza Strip, saying Israeli forces must implement similar measures being carried out in the West Bank.
These are considered the largest raids done by Israel in the West Bank in at least 20 years, since Israeli officials said Operation Defensive Shield was executed during the Second Intifada.
Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli military spokesman said that the nine killed were all terrorists, including three killed in an airstrike in Tulkarem and another four in an airstrike in Al-Faraa.
Additionally, he said another five suspected terrorists were arrested and that the raids were the first stage of an even larger operation aimed at preventing attacks on Israeli civilians.
Palestinian terrorist groups said they were exchanging fire with the Israeli military. The governor of Jenin, Kamal Abu al-Rub, stated on Palestinian radio that Israeli forces had surrounded the city, blocking exit and entry points and access to hospitals.
Meanwhile, over 650 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since the war in Gaza began just over 10 months ago, according to the Palestinian ministry.
Israel says the operations are required to dismantle Hamas and other terrorist groups to prevent attacks on Israelis.
Israeli authorities said a number of “wanted suspects” were also apprehended, along with a number of weapons.
Israeli forces “exposed and dismantled explosives that were planted under the roads in the area and were intended to be detonated in attacks against the security forces operating in the area,” the statement said.
The war erupted on October 7th, when Hamas terrorists invaded southern Israel and rampaged through army bases, farming communities, Supernova Sukkot Gathering, an open-air music festival, killing 1,200 people and capturing close to 250.
Currently, Hamas is still holding around 110 hostages, a third of whom are believed to be dead, after most of the rest were released during a November cease-fire.
The U.S., Qatar and Egypt have spent months trying to mediate a cease-fire that would see the remaining hostages released.
However, talks have continued to falter as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has continuously vowed “total victory” over Hamas, while the terrorist group has allegedly called for a lasting cease-fire and a full withdrawal from the territory.
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