RAMALLAH/JERUSALEM (Reuters) – The Israeli military blew up several buildings in the occupied West Bank on Sunday in a series of simultaneous explosions that the Palestinian state news agency said had leveled around 20 buildings in the Jenin refugee camp.
Thick clouds were seen rising from the Palestinian city where Israeli forces have been conducting a massive operation for nearly two weeks that the Israeli military says is targeted at local militants, including seizing weapons stockpiles.
Asked about the simultaneous demolition of buildings in Jenin, a spokesperson for the military said “several structures used as terrorist infrastructure” had been dismantled.
More details would be released later, the person said.
Jenin Government Hospital Director Wisam Baker told the Palestinian state news agency that part of the hospital was damaged in the explosions but that there had been no casualties.
Jenin is a crowded township built for descendants of Palestinians who were driven out, or fled their homes, in the 1948 war when the state of Israel was established. The refugee camp there has been a centre of militant activity for decades and the target of repeated raids by Israeli security forces.
Israeli forces, backed by helicopters and armoured bulldozers, began the assault on the city on Jan. 21, two days after Israel reached a ceasefire in Gaza with militant group Hamas.
Hamas on Sunday called for an “escalation in the resistance” against Israel following the demolition of buildings in Jenin.
The Palestinian Authority, a Hamas rival, exercises limited governance over the West Bank where around 3 million Palestinians live and over which Israel maintains overall military control.
Israeli forces have engaged in gun battles with local militants since the operation began. Defense Minister Israel Katz on Wednesday said security forces would stay until the operation is complete, without saying when that would be.
At least 25 Palestinians have been killed since the Israeli military operation began, including nine members of armed groups, a 73 year-old man and a two-year-old girl, according to Palestinian officials. The Israeli military says it has killed at least 35 militants and detained over 100 wanted individuals.
Dozens of homes and roads have been destroyed by Israeli forces in the latest campaign. The Palestinian state news agency also said that a 27 year-old man had been killed on Sunday by Israeli forces raiding a refugee camp near Hebron.
(Reporting by Ali Sawafta in Ramallah, Alexander Cornwell in Jerusalem and Nidal al-Mughrabi in Cairo; Editing by Sharon Singleton)
Comments