Hundreds leave West Bank camp during Israeli raid

Hundreds leave West Bank camp during Israeli raid

RAMALLAH
Hundreds leave West Bank camp during Israeli raid

Hundreds of residents of the occupied West Bank's Jenin refugee camp were leaving their homes on Thursday, days into a large-scale Israeli raid in the area.

"Hundreds of camp residents have begun leaving after the Israeli army, using loudspeakers on drones and military vehicles, ordered them to evacuate the camp," where Israel's military launched an intense military operation this week, Jenin governor Kamal Abu al-Rub said.

However, the army told AFP that it was "unaware of any evacuation orders for residents in Jenin as of now".

The U.N.’s agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said that Israeli forces have used “advanced weaponry and warfare methods, including air strikes” on the Jenin camp, which is now “nearly uninhabitable” with an estimated 2,000 families displaced from the area since last month.

Salim Saadi, a Jenin resident who lives on the edge of the refugee camp, said that the army had asked camp residents to leave between 9:00 a.m. local time and 5:00 pm.

"There are dozens of camp residents who have begun to leave,” he said.

The Israeli military launched an operation in Jenin on Jan. 21, saying it aims to uproot Palestinian militants in the camp and the city.

The offensive began just days after a ceasefire deal paused fighting in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli assault has killed at least 10 Palestinians and injured 40 more.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that "Operation Iron Wall,” as it has been dubbed, will "eradicate terrorism" in the West Bank city known as a bastion of Palestinian militancy.

Israeli troops raiding Jenin in the occupied West Bank also set homes in the area ablaze, the Wafa news agency reports.

The arson attacks included several houses in the Jenin refugee camp and one near al-Asir Mosque.

The army rounded up at least 22 more Palestinians in fresh Israeli military raids in the occupied West Bank.

The defense minister said that Israeli forces are applying methods learned during the war on Gaza to their ongoing military operation in West Bank.

Israel Katz stated that the Jenin operation marks a shift in Israel’s military plan in the West Bank and was “the first lesson from the method of repeated raids in Gaza.”