Israel launches large-scale ‘counterterrorism operation’ in occupied West Bank

Israel launched what it called a “counterterrorism operation” in the West Bank with hundreds of troops raiding the city of Jenin and other areas of the occupied territory. At least 10 Palestinians have been killed in the raids, either by airstrikes or gun battles on the ground. It’s the largest raid the West Bank has seen in months. Amna Nawaz reports.
Geoff Bennett:
Israel launched what it calls a counterterrorism operation in the West Bank, with hundreds of troops raiding the flash point city of Jenin and other areas of the occupied territory.
Amna Nawaz:
At least 10 Palestinians have been killed in the raids either by airstrikes or in gun battles on the ground. Israel has carried out near-daily raids in the West Bank since Hamas’ October 7 attack, but this latest operation marks a significant escalation.
In the dark hours of the night, Israeli bulldozers moved into the West Bank by land, tearing up roads in the city of Tulkarm and followed by an armored convoy. Across the occupied territory, Israeli forces attacked by air, Israel says, targeting suspected militant strongholds.
And by the morning, hundreds of Israeli troops entered on foot. Patrolling now-crumbled streets in the largest raid on the West Bank in months, among the dead, two of Masoud Naaja’s three children. From his hospital stretcher, he said an airstrike hit his family’s home in the al-Fara’a refugee camp.
Masoud Naaja, West Bank Resident (through interpreter):
In seconds, very fast, we felt like something came down on us from the sky and there was an explosion. I was unaware of what was going on. When I put my hand to my chest, it was all shrapnel and in blood.
Amna Nawaz:
The Israeli military said its forces had begun the first stage of a — quote — “counterterrorism operation” in three areas, Tulkarm, al-Fara’a refugee camp and the city of Jenin, saying they confiscated large quantities of weapons, arrested five suspected militants and killed at least 10 more.
Israel’s foreign minister said the goal was to — quote — “dismantle Islamic Iranian terror infrastructures established there.”
Hamas, meanwhile, called for his followers to — quote — “escalate all forms of resistance and confront the occupation and its settlers everywhere in our occupied land.”
All this against the backdrop of surging Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank in recent months. Just this afternoon, the U.S. government announced new sanctions against one Israeli NGO for its support of that extremist settler violence.
Since the October 7 Hamas attacks, when more than 1, 100 Israelis were killed, more than 600 Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed, according to the U.N. Humanitarian Affairs Office. That’s in addition to the more than 40,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza so far.
Israel’s campaign against Hamas continued there today, with strikes in Deir al Balah and Khan Yunis killing 20, including three children, according to Palestinian officials. And to the north, a third Israeli front. The IDF released footage today claiming to hit Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, where border tensions have persisted for months.
Palestinians in Beirut reacted to today’s West Bank raid and what it means for the greater region.
Ali Toufic Al-Rifai, Supervisor, Mar Elias Palestinian Refugee Camp (through interpreter):
We see what is happening in the West Bank as an attack on the Palestinian people and their national rights, considering that the Israeli extremists are trying to displace the population and making the Palestinians live in a state of permanent tension.