Watan-The number of martyrs has risen in the large-scale attack launched by Israeli occupation forces on Jenin, in the northern West Bank, today, Tuesday, under the name “Iron Wall.” Meanwhile, the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) has called for a general mobilization to counter the incursions, which have affected wide areas of the West Bank.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced this evening that 9 Palestinians were martyred and about 40 others were injured as a result of the Israeli aggression on Jenin.
The Palestinian Red Crescent reported that the occupation forces are preventing its teams from reaching the injured inside the Jenin refugee camp.
The number of martyrs is expected to rise further due to the presence of critical injuries, according to Dr. Baha Yahya from Al-Razi Hospital in Jenin, as he told Al Jazeera.
The doctor noted that the hospital treated injuries, including those of children as young as one year old.
Additionally, the director of Jenin Governmental Hospital told Al Jazeera that several doctors and nurses were injured by occupation forces’ gunfire during the incursion into Jenin.
Earlier, local sources reported hearing a massive explosion around the camp. They also mentioned intense helicopter activity over Jenin and its camp, coinciding with a large-scale incursion and the siege of the area.
A Palestinian was reportedly shot by an Israeli sniper on Al-Mahatta Street in Jenin, while Israeli drones bombed a site in the Jenin refugee camp, according to the same sources.
Local sources also told Al Jazeera that the occupation army had completely sealed off the entrances and exits of the Jenin camp, and Israeli bulldozers had begun destroying infrastructure in the camp.
Resistance Calls for Mobilization
Sources told Al Jazeera this evening that resistance fighters detonated an explosive device targeting an Israeli vehicle in the Jenin refugee camp.
Palestinian media broadcast footage showing what they claimed to be resistance fighters firing at occupation forces on Al-Nasirah Street in Jenin.
Hamas called for a “general mobilization to confront the occupation’s wide-ranging aggression in Jenin and to support the resistance in facing Zionist oppression.”
The movement criticized the behavior of the Palestinian Authority’s security forces, which withdrew from the vicinity of the Jenin camp as the occupation operation began, calling it “bewildering.”
Zaher Jabarin, Hamas’s leader in the West Bank, told Al Jazeera that the resistance would defeat the occupation in the West Bank just as it had in Gaza.
The Islamic Jihad Movement also called on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank to “confront the criminal campaign by all means and thwart its goals.”
The movement described the operation as “part of a series of genocidal campaigns launched by the occupying entity against our people.”
Local sources told Al Jazeera that Palestinian Authority security forces withdrew from the area surrounding the Jenin camp after the Israeli incursion began. According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the Israeli army had requested the Palestinian Authority forces withdraw from the area before the operation commenced.
Occupation’s Goals
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced in a statement that the military operation in Jenin was launched to “eradicate terrorism.”
He described the operation as “comprehensive and significant,” aimed at enhancing security and protecting settlers in the West Bank.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that the “Iron Wall” operation would be a strong and ongoing campaign against “terrorist elements” to protect settlers and ensure Israel’s security.
He added that the operation is part of a shift in the security strategy in the West Bank, following developments in Gaza and Lebanon, with the aim of “eliminating terrorism across the region.”
The operation is part of a broader escalation campaign launched by the occupation forces and settlers in the West Bank following the implementation of a ceasefire agreement in Gaza on Sunday.
Israeli media indicated that this campaign reflects promises made by Netanyahu to far-right ministers to prevent them from withdrawing from the government over the Gaza agreement.
Israel’s Channel 14 reported that the operation in Jenin was decided at a political level following a meeting of the Israeli Security Cabinet last Friday, which approved the ceasefire agreement in Gaza.
The channel also noted that the Security Cabinet decided during that meeting to include the West Bank among the war’s targets.
Extensive Incursions
Simultaneously with the attack on Jenin, occupation forces carried out extensive incursions in areas including occupied Jerusalem, Nablus, and Qalqilya.
Sources told Al Jazeera that the forces stormed Shuafat refugee camp in East Jerusalem and the Al-Masaken Al-Shaabiya neighborhood in eastern Nablus, leading to clashes and gunfire targeting Palestinians.
Meanwhile, they also raided the Al-Mansour neighborhood in the town of Azzun, east of Qalqilya, firing tear gas at residents’ homes.
The occupation forces arrested five Palestinians from the town of Beit Kahil, west of Hebron.
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