Israel’s military is conducting raids in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank, blocking access to aid for Palestinians in the besieged refugee camp on the fourth day of its assault.
Dozens of Israeli soldiers were stationed on the outskirts of the Jenin refugee camp, with Israeli military jeeps and armoured personnel carriers moving into the area.
Israeli forces blew up homes in the Jabriyat neighbourhood of the camp as they extended their largest military assault on Palestinian territory in more than 20 years.
Israel’s army on Saturday announced the first death of a soldier since its ongoing raid began four days ago.
An army statement said 20-year-old Elkana Navon “fell during operational activity” on Saturday and that another soldier was “severely injured” in the same incident, without providing details.
Reporting from Jenin, Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh said, “Jenin is a ghost town. All of the shops are closed. Nobody is leaving their homes.”
Paramedics were struggling to contact people in the camp with telecommunications blocked.
“Palestinian residents continue to plea to have access to food, water and paramedics,” said Odeh. “This is day four, and the residents of the refugee camp have pretty much no access to any outside help.”
Several gun battles between Palestinian fighters and Israeli soldiers have been reported in Jenin, Odeh reported, adding that videos on social media show extensive damage in the area.
The armed wing of Hamas said its members have “engaged in armed clashes” with Israeli forces in the village of Kafr Dan, which is located to the west of the city.
Israeli troops, along with armoured vehicles, drones and bulldozers, on Wednesday launched simultaneous raids in Jenin, Tulkarem and Tubas.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said an “elderly man” was killed in Jenin, without specifying his age, bringing the total death toll from the military raids to 20.
The Israeli army maintains its goal is to target armed groups in the West Bank and to prevent future attacks. It claims to have killed 20 Palestinian fighters and arrested 17.
Of the Palestinians reported dead since Wednesday, Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad have said at least 14 were members of their armed wings.
Palestinian residents say that the trail of destruction left behind by the military incursion – which has destroyed infrastructure, roads, water and electricity facilities – suggests that the army’s goal is to make the territory inhabitable and push Palestinians out of their homes.
“Israel’s plans involve annexing Palestinian land, ultimately over time getting rid of the Palestinian population and ethnically cleansing the West Bank and Gaza,” Mohamad Elmasry, a professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, told Al Jazeera.
Israel has been emboldened by the lack of response from the United States for its ongoing war in Gaza, he said. “So if it can get away with it there, why [would Israel] not in the West Bank?”
The UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) condemned Israeli forces for its “unlawful force” and called for an “immediate end” to the current attack in Jenin refugee camp.
“The use of military weapons and tactics during law enforcement give rise to grave concerns of a systematic disregard for the rights of the Palestinian population and contribute to an escalation in violence and insecurity,” it said in a statement Saturday.
“The only way to ensure security for Palestinians and Israelis is to end the occupation.”
Two attacks in illegal settlements
In the south of the West Bank, tensions ratcheted up after Israeli soldiers shot dead two Palestinians suspected of attempting to attack Israelis in two separate incidents late on Friday.
The army said in a statement that troops responding to a vehicle catching fire and exploding at a gas station in the southern Gush Etzion junction killed a suspected assailant “who exited the vehicle and attempted to attack” the soldiers.
In a second incident, assailants rammed a car into the gates leading into the illegal settlement of Karmei Tzur and infiltrated the area. One assailant was killed.
Security forces have been dispatched to the area in search of other assailants, the army said.
Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service said it was treating three people for moderate and light injuries. Two of them were injured by gunfire at Gush Etzion Junction and a third was injured when his vehicle collided with that of the assailants, the rescue service said.
Al Jazeera’s Odeh said the situation in Hebron – the largest district of the territory where about one million people live – was particularly tense, as Israeli forces set up several checkpoint.
The continuing raids are the largest and most violent since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza. The parallel conflict unfolding in the West Bank has killed about 600 Palestinians, according to figures from the United Nations Humanitarian Affairs office.
The number of detentions since the beginning of the West Bank assault has risen to about 70, according to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society and the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs.
