Israel launches major raids in occupied West Bank

Israeli forces launched a sweeping military operation Wednesday in the occupied West Bank, carrying out airstrikes and deadly raids and sealing off the city of Jenin.

JERUSALEM — Israeli forces launched a sweeping military operation Wednesday in the occupied West Bank, carrying out airstrikes and deadly raids and sealing off the city of Jenin.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said the large-scale operation was part of a “full-fledged war” as he compared the situation to the Gaza Strip, saying Israeli forces must implement similar measures being carried out in the war-torn Palestinian enclave in the West Bank.

At least 10 people were killed and almost two dozen were injured, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society, an emergency service.

Israel has conducted near-daily raids in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, in the months since Hamas' Oct. 7 attack and the subsequent Israeli offensive in Gaza. But Wednesday's operation could be the largest in more than 20 years, when what Israeli officials called Operation Defensive Shield was executed during the Second Intifada, or Palestinian uprising.

The Israel Defense Forces, the Israel Security Agency (also known as the Shin Bet) and the Israel Police said in a joint statement that forces had launched a “counterterrorism operation” in Jenin, Tulkarem and Al-Faraa refugee camp overnight, “eliminating armed terrorists from the air and ground.”

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/israel-west-bank-raids-occupied-west-bank-rcna168559

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