On Thursday, the Israeli military announced that its forces had killed five Palestinian fighters hiding inside a mosque in Tulkarm, a city in the occupied West Bank. This marked one of the largest assaults on the territory in recent months.
The operation, which began in the early hours of Wednesday, saw hundreds of Israeli troops, supported by helicopters, drones, and armored personnel carriers, launching raids in the cities of Tulkarm, Jenin, and areas in the Jordan Valley. A Reuters witness reported that the operation was ongoing.
During the raid, the Palestinian telecommunications company Jawwal experienced a complete network outage, affecting communication in both Gaza and the West Bank.
According to Palestinian health authorities, at least 12 Palestinians were killed in Wednesday’s operations. In Jenin on Thursday, bulldozers moved through empty streets, drones filled the skies, and Israeli troops maintained a presence in front of the city’s main hospital, searching ambulances. The military had blocked access to the hospital the previous day with earth mounds to prevent fighters from taking refuge there.
The armed wings of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Fatah claimed that their gunmen were actively resisting the Israeli forces, detonating bombs against military vehicles in Jenin, Tulkarm, and Far’a, a town in the Jordan Valley.
Israel identified one of the five fighters killed in Tulkarm as Muhhamad Jabber, known as “Abu Shujaa,” a leader of a network of fighters in the Nur Shams refugee camp near the city.
Clashes in the West Bank have intensified since Israel’s war with Hamas militants in Gaza began nearly 11 months ago. Israel asserts that Iran is supplying weapons and support to militant factions in the region, leading to increased operations in the West Bank. At the same time, Jewish settlers have frequently launched vigilante-style attacks on Palestinian communities.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz, in a post on X overnight, described the situation as a war, emphasizing the need for Israel to emerge victorious. He accused Iran of attempting to destabilize Jordan and create an eastern front against Israel, similar to its activities in Gaza and Lebanon, where Israel has been exchanging almost daily fire with Hezbollah militants.
To counter the eastern threat, Katz stated that Israel might need to use “all necessary means,” including temporarily evacuating civilians from certain neighborhoods to prevent harm during intense combat.
In nearby Gaza, the ongoing conflict has led to widespread displacement, severe hunger, and disease, with nearly all of the enclave’s 2.3 million residents forced to move multiple times.
The latest wave of violence between Israelis and Palestinians began on October 7, when Hamas militants launched an attack from Gaza into southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures. Israel’s subsequent military campaign in Gaza has resulted in widespread destruction and the deaths of over 40,500 people, according to Palestinian health officials.
Internationally mediated talks to end the conflict are ongoing. Since the Gaza war began, thousands of Palestinians have been arrested in West Bank and East Jerusalem raids, with more than 660 people—both fighters and civilians—killed, according to Palestinian health ministry figures. During the same period, at least 30 Israelis have been killed in attacks in Jerusalem and the West Bank, based on Israeli reports.