Deadly Israeli raids in West Bank draw wide criticism

JENIN, West Bank — Israel's airstrikes and ground raids in the occupied West Bank on Monday have drawn criticism from the United Nations, the Arab League, and regional countries, as the death toll from the raids continues to mount.

The large-scale operation in the northern West Bank city of Jenin was the biggest in the West Bank in 20 years, featuring armored vehicles, army bulldozers and drones. At least 10 Palestinians were killed and 100 others were injured, said the Palestinian Health Ministry.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry called the escalation "an open war against the people of Jenin".

During an emergency meeting of the Palestinian leadership chaired by President Mahmoud Abbas, the leadership decided to stop all contact, meetings and security coordination with the Israeli government in protest against the brutal raids. They also planned to minimize contact with the United States.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that Israeli forces in "the nest of terrorists in Jenin" were "destroying command centers and seizing considerable weaponry".

On Monday, United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland said on social media that the current escalation in West Bank "is very dangerous".

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is "deeply concerned "about the violence, and called for the respect of international humanitarian law, his spokesman said.

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit on Monday condemned the Israeli military raid and called on peace advocates across the world to intervene immediately and stop the Israeli "ominous and criminal" operation.

"The ongoing brutal Israeli military operation in Jenin is categorically slammed," Aboul-Gheit said, noting that raiding cities and camps under air support as well as razing houses and roads are collective punishment and revenge that will only lead to further escalation of tensions.

The Arab League said it would convene an emergency meeting Tuesday to discuss "an Arab mobilization to counter the Israeli attack on Jenin".

In a statement, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry condemned on Monday "in the strongest terms" the Israeli raid, voicing opposition to the repeated Israeli raids and incursions into Palestinian cities that killed civilians.

Turkiye, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Lebanon also strongly condemned the Israeli operation, urging Israel to stop such actions.

Meanwhile, a Palestinian rammed a pickup truck into pedestrians in Tel Aviv and then went on a stabbing rampage on Tuesday in an attack claimed by the Hamas militant group that Israeli authorities said wounded eight people.

The 20-year-old Palestinian, from West Bank, was shot dead by an armed civilian, police said.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since the 1967 Middle East War. Excluding annexed East Jerusalem, the territory is now home to around 490,000 Israelis in settlements considered illegal under international law. The Palestinians, who seek their own independent state, want Israel to withdraw from all land it seized in 1967 and to dismantle all Jewish settlements.

Since the start of the operation in the early hours of Monday, about 3,000 people left their homes in the Jenin refugee camp, deputy governor of Jenin, Kamal Abu al-Roub told Agence France-Presse, adding that arrangements were being made to house them in schools and other shelters.

Throughout the day, black smoke rose from the crowded streets of the camp, a densely populated neighborhood that is home to some 14,000 people, while exchanges of fire rang out and drones could be heard buzzing overhead.

Israeli-Palestinian violence has worsened since last year, and escalated further recently.

Israel had already stepped up operations in the northern West Bank, which has seen a recent spate of attacks on Israelis as well as Jewish settler violence targeting Palestinians.

Since January, 24 people, most of them Israelis, have been killed in a series of attacks carried out by Palestinians, and 180 Palestinians, including children and women, were killed by Israeli soldiers and settlers, according to official figures.

Xinhua - Agencies