“IRON WALL”
As Rubio and Netanyahu spoke, Israel’s West Bank operation, dubbed “Iron Wall”, was pressing on.
The Israeli military said that it has “neutralised over 10 terrorists”, while the Palestinian Ministry of Health said the operation has killed 10 people, and wounded 35 others.
“The situation is very difficult,” Jenin governor Kamal Abu al-Rub told AFP.
“The occupation army has bulldozed all the roads leading to Jenin camp and to the Jenin government hospital … There is shooting and explosions,” he added, referring to the Israeli military.
Israeli forces have detained around 20 people from villages around Jenin since the operation began on Tuesday, he said.
An AFP correspondent reported hearing gunfire and explosions from the northern city’s refugee camp, a hotbed of militancy where Israeli forces have carried out repeated raids.
Qatari news channel Al Jazeera reported that its journalist Mohammed Al-Atrash had been arrested at his home by Palestinian forces “to prevent him from covering the Israeli operation” in Jenin.
The raid in Jenin aims to counter “hundreds of terrorist attacks, both in Judea and Samaria (the occupied West Bank) and the rest of Israel”, military spokesman Nadav Shoshani said at a press briefing.
He said that since the start of the Gaza war, Israel had seen “over 2,000 terror attack attempts” from the West Bank, adding that the army had “eliminated around 800 terrorists”.
The Palestinian Authority’s foreign ministry accused Israel of “collective punishment” and said the raid was part of an Israeli plan aimed at “gradually annexing the occupied West Bank”.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for “maximum restraint” from Israeli security forces and expressed deep concern.
Violence has surged throughout the occupied West Bank since the Gaza war erupted on Oct 7, 2023, after Hamas’ unprecedented attack on southern Israel.
According to the Palestinian health ministry, Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 848 Palestinians in the West Bank since the war began.
During the same period, at least 29 Israelis, including soldiers, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or Israeli military operations in the territory, according to Israeli official figures.
