Nine Palestinians were killed on Wednesday morning as the Israeli army launched a major counter-terror operation in the West Bank. The IDF and Shin Bet intelligence agency reported that they struck “five terrorists in an operations room” in the area of Nur Shams in the northern West Bank. The structure was being used to conduct “terrorist activity and harm IDF soldiers operating in the area”, the army said, identifying one of those killed as Jibril Jasan Ismail Jibril who was released as part of the ceasefire agreement in November last year. Islamic Jihad confirmed that its members were clashing with the IDF in Tulkarem and the Al-Far’a camp while the Al Aqsa Martyr Brigade said it confronted Israeli soldiers in both the Al-Far’a and Nur Shams camps. Israeli media reported that the operation in the northern West Bank is expected to last several days, with a focus on Tulkarem, Jenin, and the Al-Far’a camp. The military told the Times of Israel it believes a terror network which planned an attempted suicide bombing in Tel Aviv on August 18 had been operating from the Tulkarem area. The Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror groups claimed responsibility for the attack. It is the first time since the second intifada, a major uprising between 2000 and 2005, that several Palestinian cities have been targeted simultaneously.
### IDF Operations in Three Areas
The IDF confirmed its counter-terror operations in Jenin and Telkarem, where Israeli soldiers “eliminated armed terrorists from the air and ground”. Three armed terrorists were killed in an airstrike on Jenin, while two more were killed across Jenin and Tulkarem. Israeli forces also reported that four armed terrorists were killed in Al-Far’a. A joint statement with the national police and security agency stated: “Israeli security forces began a counterterrorism operation in Jenin and Tulkarem, eliminating armed terrorists from the air and ground, dismantling explosives planted under the roads and confiscating large quantities of weapons.”
### Ceasefire Talks to Resume
Ceasefire talks are expected to resume in Doha, Qatar, later on Wednesday, with Israeli, American, Egyptian, and Qatari negotiators set to meet for “technical/working level” talks on securing a ceasefire in Gaza.
### Ongoing Raids in West Bank
Israeli troops were seen operating in the Nur Shams camp in the West Bank city of Tulkarem on Wednesday. Israel’s military stated that it believed the city had been used by a terror network which carried out a suicide bomber attack in Tel Aviv on August 18.
Israeli soldiers have been patrolling the streets in the Al-Far’a camp in Tubas, one of the cities where the IDF has focused its ongoing raids.
### Conflict Escalates
Israel’s military confirmed it was carrying out operations in Jenin and Tulkarem to “thwart terror” but it is believed to be operating across four cities in total. Clashes have also been reported in Nablus and Tubas. The governor of Jenin claimed that Israeli forces had “surrounded the city” on Wednesday morning. Entry and exit points to the city were reportedly blocked.
### Terrorists Identified
The IDF identified Mohanad Qarawi and Muhammad Yussef among those killed in their ongoing West Bank raids, both of whom were involved in “terrorist activity in Nur Shams”. The military also claimed that Adnan Jaber, who manufactured explosives “intended to harm security forces”, had been killed.
### Foreign Minister’s Statement
Israel’s Foreign Minister, Yisrael Katz, called on the army to deal with the terror threats from the West Bank the same way it does in Gaza. He stated that this includes “the temporary evacuation of Palestinian residents and whatever steps are required”. Katz blamed Iran for working to establish an “eastern terrorist front against Israel in the West Bank, according to the Gaza and Lebanon model, by financing and arming terrorists and smuggling advanced weapons from Jordan”.
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage. We’re bringing you the latest updates from the Israel-Hamas conflict. Stay tuned for more information as the situation unfolds.
