Israeli forces attack the West Bank as clashes continue in Jenin Israel-Palestine Conflicts News

Israeli forces have launched an offensive in the West Bank amid clashes between the Palestinian Authority and armed groups in Jenin.

At least 18 Palestinians were arrested by Israeli forces during raids between Monday evening and Tuesday morning, the Israeli army said. The Palestinian Prisoners Society said that those arrested included one person who was injured.

The Israeli attack took place in the districts of Nablus, Hebron, Tubas, Tulkarem, Qalqilya, Bethlehem, Salfit and Ramallah.

Like many daily incursions into Palestinian territories, the raids were accompanied by extensive searches, house demolitions and arbitrary detentions.

A Palestinian teenager was killed early Tuesday morning by Israeli bullets during a raid on the Tulkarem refugee camp, according to the Wafa news agency. It cited witnesses who said the man was shot by Israeli snipers, who then blocked ambulance crews from reaching him by firing at them. Israel said the man was killed in “face-to-face combat” with soldiers.

A large number of soldiers and armored vehicles, accompanied by two heavy tractors, were reported to have stormed the town of Tulkarem from the western axis, heading for the camp as drones flew over the ground.

Israeli military bulldozers destroyed infrastructure in different parts of the camp, disrupting the water network and causing power outages and internet disruptions.

Palestinian militants reported clashes with Israeli forces in Tulkarem, with the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades coalition of armed groups saying fighters used automatic weapons and explosives.

During the raid in Nablus, at least three Palestinians were injured and one was arrested after the army attacked the city, as well as the Balata camp in the morning.

Israeli soldiers reportedly surrounded a house in al-Tirawi area inside the Balata camp and arrested a Palestinian youth while they dispersed to many other areas.

There was another major attack in the city of Hizma, north of the besieged Jerusalem, after a Palestinian man was shot the previous day at an army checkpoint for allegedly trying to attack the army with a knife.

Local sources quoted by Wafa agency said Israeli bulldozers demolished a resident’s house and another home under construction. They also brought down olive trees and their tractors during the raid.

Airstrikes have been rare in the West Bank compared to daily attacks on Gaza, but Israel has relied heavily on them there as well. An Israeli drone strike in Tubas on December 9 killed at least two people.

Israeli settlers are also supported by the military in almost daily attacks on Palestinian farmers in illegally occupied territories.

According to the latest United Nations figures, 736 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, between the start of the Gaza war and October 31.

The ongoing conflict in Jenin

Meanwhile, as the Israeli offensive continues, Palestinian Authority security forces have been clashing with Palestinian armed forces in Jenin for nearly 10 days.

Sources told Al Jazeera Arabic that clashes broke out again on Tuesday in the southern West Bank region of Tubas. The fighting broke out after PA security forces seized equipment from a house in the town of Tammun.

The Israeli army did not withdraw from entering Jenin, although the heads of the settlements of the districts called for direct intervention.

PA forces continued efforts to take full control of the city, which is considered a stronghold of the opposition.

Several civilians, PA soldiers and armed fighters have been killed since the start of the “Operation Defend the Homeland”, including the commander of the Jenin Brigades, Yazid Ja’ayseh.

The fight has centered on Palestinian criticism of the PA, with the umbrella group Popular Resistance Committees accusing the organization of working “in line with the Zionist agenda”.

Last week, the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) reported that its health center in Jenin had been taken over by armed actors and was no longer in control. All UNRWA services, including education and humanitarian aid, are currently suspended in the camp.

According to the UN, eight Palestinians were killed in the West Bank between December 9 and 15.

Of these, five were killed by Israeli forces, and three by the PA. During this period, approximately 158 Palestinians were arrested by Israeli forces, and 14 Palestinians were arrested by the PA.