At least nine Palestinians have been killed as Israel raided West Bank cities.

 

• At least nine Palestinians have died in the occupied West Bank, in what Israel says is a "counter-terrorism operation"
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• Earlier, Palestinian officials said at least 11 people had been killed since the Israeli operation began at midnight local time
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• This does seem to be a big Israeli operation, at least four Palestinian cities being targeted all at once Jenin, Tulkarm, Nablus and Tubas
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• It is believed to mark the first time since the second intifada - a major Palestinian uprising from 2000 to 2005 - that several Palestinian cities have been targeted en masse.

 

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Israel's Foreign Minister Israel Katz said that since last night, IDF had been "operating with full force in the Jenin and Tulkarm refugee camps to dismantle infrastructures of Israeli forces have killed at least nine Palestinians in the West Bank, according to Palestinian health officials and the Israeli military. Israeli officials identified those killed as "armed terrorists".

At least four cities of Palestine have been targeted at the same time: Jenin, Tulkarm, Nablus, and Tubas.

An Israeli military spokesperson told the Associated Press news agency that "large forces" have entered Jenin.

In Far'a camp near Tubas, medics say ambulances can't reach the wounded following an Israeli drone strike against Iranian-Islamic terror established there.

In the meantime, the UN Human Rights Office condemned the "increasingly military response of Israeli security force in the West Bank". 

11:27 BST

An Israeli military spokesman has said "large forces" have entered the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, Associated Press reports.

Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said in a post, external on X, troops working in the Palestinian cities of Jenin and Tulkarm are operating "intelligence-guided, counter-terrorism operations" to thwart attacks against civilians.

This comes on the heels of a joint statement shared earlier by Israeli officials, stating that nine people have been killed in the military operation. 

UN condemns Israeli military operation in West Bank 

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 The UN Human Rights Office has attacked the "increasingly military response" of the Israeli security force in the occupied West Bank.

The OHCHR says the recent operation by the Israeli military in the West Bank is being conducted "in a manner which violates international law and risks further enflaming an already explosive situation.".

"Violence between ISF and armed Palestinians in the West Bank does not amount to an armed conflict for the purposes of international humanitarian law, and as such, the use of force in the West Bank is governed by human rights norms," it says.

Since the deadly attack on southern Israel launched by Hamas on 7 October, Israel has conducted near-daily raids throughout the West Bank.

By Palestinian health officials report that Israeli soldiers are impeding access by ambulances.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health in the West Bank has called on the international community to intervene for the protection of hospitals in Jenin, Tulkarm, and Tubas.

In a statement this morning, the ministry calls for "the international community and the Red Cross" for assistance while denouncing the Israeli army for impeding access by ambulances in a move that "constitutes a blatant violation" of humanitarian law.

It says that the Israeli army has shut down roads leading to Ibn Sina Hospital, surrounded Khalil Suleiman Hospital, and the headquarters of the Red Crescent and Friends of the Patients societies.

We earlier reported that Israeli troops were outside a hospital in Jenin, checking the IDs of people leaving.