Raids by the Israeli military in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin have resulted in an increasing number of casualties since they started on Tuesday and have now entered their third day.
Eight Palestinians have been killed in the Jenin refugee camp alone since Tuesday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said in a statement. Israeli forces have killed 58 people, including children, in Jenin alone since October 7.
Kamal Abu al-Rub, Jenin’s acting governor, said more Israeli forces were heading towards the city and the camp, in what is the military’s 15th incursion into this area since October 7.
Abu al-Rub told Al Jazeera that all roads leading to the camp have been destroyed by military bulldozers and that its hospitals are being surrounded, with soldiers blocking ambulances from evacuating the sick and injured.
Israeli forces detained about 500 people, and have released 400 of them. With the camp under siege, those freed were unable to return and were sheltering in an area near Jenin, he said.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said: “Dozens of citizens suffer from a severe shortage of infant formula and bread as Israeli soldiers are deployed on the roofs of their homes, preventing them from leaving.”
At least 283 West Bank Palestinians, including 64 children, have been killed by Israeli fire and more than 4,000 detained since the war started, according to Palestinian officials.