Palestinian news says Israel continues raids in West Bank, arrests 25 people

The Israeli army continued what it said a new anti-terrorist operation On Wednesday, at least 25 people were arrested in the Israeli-occupied West Bank over the past day, Palestinian news media reported.

The total number of people killed since the start of the raid rose to 10 on Tuesday, with four more injured in Jenin, the official Palestinian Authority news agency Wafa reported.

Israel’s attack on the second day was not only aimed at Jenin.

On Wednesday, the military made arrests in the cities of Jenin, Ramallah, Hebron, Tulkarm and Bethlehem. Enhanced security at Israeli checkpoints across the territory slowed or halted the movement; in one case a The Palestinian Ministry of Health said that a 45-year-old woman died while waiting to be hospitalized at a checkpoint near Hebron.

Jenin Mayor Mohammad Jarar told Wafa that Israeli forces detained up to 600 people at Jenin State Hospital overnight, but they were released on Wednesday morning. The news agency described Israeli bulldozers blocking the hospital’s doors with dirt from nearby streets.

Mr. Jarar also said people were being forced to leave their homes, a claim denied by Israeli army spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani. “There is no evacuation order in Jenin,” he said.

Informing journalists about the operation, Colonel Shoshani said that the people in the hospital were temporarily detained in order not to be harmed by the explosives set off by the military nearby.

After a temporary truce was reached in Gaza over the weekend, Israel turned its attention to the West Bank, where militancy has increased and Israeli settlement violence against Palestinian civilians has increased.

Colonel Shoshani said the operation in the West Bank is similar in scope to the army operation was carried out in August. According to Palestinian media and residents, 21 people were killed as a result of a 10-day raid in the city of Jenin. It was one of the largest and deadliest raids in the West Bank in recent years.

The colonel said the operation was Israel’s last-ditch effort to curb attacks by militants, most of whom have improvised explosive devices planted both on civilian streets and under Israeli military vehicles.

“Our strategy is to fight those terrorists while allowing civilians to continue their lives,” said Colonel Shoshani.

On a number of social media writings Roland Friedrich, the West Bank director of the United Nations aid agency for the Palestinians, said on Wednesday that the Israeli operation was “anticipated until the last days” and was using advanced weapons on Jenin, including airstrikes.