17 Palestinians killed as Israeli military operation intensifies in northern West Bank

RAMALLAH — At least 17 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli army fire during an ongoing military operation in the northern West Bank since Wednesday, according to the Red Crescent Society.

In a statement, the society reported that a Palestinian man was killed in eastern Jenin early Thursday, following the deaths of five Palestinians who were shot inside a mosque in the Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarem.

The Israeli army launched its largest military operation in two decades in the northern West Bank on Wednesday. Since the start of the offensive, at least 45 Palestinians have been detained by the Israeli army, including 25 on Thursday, according to a joint statement by the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner Society.

The operation comes amid heightened tensions in the occupied West Bank, exacerbated by a brutal Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip, which has killed over 40,600 Palestinians, mainly women and children, since October 7 last year.

Since then, at least 670 Palestinians have been killed, nearly 5,400 injured, and more than 10,300 arrested across the occupied territory, according to Palestinian sources.

On July 19, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s long-standing occupation of Palestinian land illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. — Agencies