Israel's deadly attack on Jenin has entered its third day, with its army threatening to evacuate residents of the city's refugee camp.
Hundreds of Palestinians in the Jenin refugee camp began to leave their homes on Thursday.
“The Israeli army, using loudspeakers on drones and military vehicles, ordered them to leave the camp,” as the Israeli army launched a major offensive this week, Jenin governor Kamal Abu al-Rub told AFP.
Elsewhere, two Palestinian men were killed overnight in an attack by Israeli forces in Burqin, which killed 12 people across the Jenin governorate in the first two days of major attacks.
These attacks are part of Israel Iron Wall campaign in the occupied Palestinian territory by the Palestinians, launched a few days after the cessation of hostilities in Gaza.
The Palestinian newspaper Al Quds Today reported that Muhammad Abu al-Asaad and Qutaiba al-Shalabi were killed in a “battle with soldiers that lasted several hours”.
The Israeli military confirmed the killings on Thursday, saying the two were affiliated with Palestinian Islamic Jihad and were wanted for the attack. Shooting in the village of Funduq in Qalqilya district earlier this month, which killed three Israelis and wounded six.
The Palestinian General Authority of Civil Affairs said that the Israeli army refused to release their bodies.
The Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that the Israeli soldiers involved in the killings surrounded a house in Burqin, and fired rockets at it before using a bulldozer to demolish it.
Hassan Sobh, the mayor of Burqin, was quoted in the report as saying that Israeli soldiers used women as human shields during the attack.
On Wednesday, the Defense for Children International Palestine (DCIP) said that a 16-year-old boy, Motaz Imad Mousa Abu Tabeekh, was killed by Israeli forces.
According to the Ramallah-based organization, he was one of seven Palestinian children killed in an Israeli offensive across the occupied West Bank this year. Four of them were killed by Israeli artillery and three were shot.
'Collective punishment'
The Jenin refugee camp, established by UNRWA in 1953 to house Palestinian refugees, is the site of Palestinian resistance groups operating under the umbrella of the Jenin Brigade and has long been a target of Israeli military operations.
Israeli military spokesman Nadav Shoshani also said that the attack camp his goal was to deal with “hundreds of terrorists, in Judea and Samaria (in the occupied West Bank) and all of Israel”.
The attack on Jenin is one of Israel's growing presence in the West Bank, which the Palestinian Authority (PA) says it wants to gradually “enlarge” the territory.
Recent Israeli attacks in the West Bank include:
- Shufat camp in Jerusalem
- Sa'ir, north of Hebron
- Barham, north of Ramallah
- Rammun, east of Ramallah
- Birzeit, north of Ramallah
- Beita, south of Nablus
- Azzun, east of the city of Qalqilya
- Calculus
The sudden destruction of colonialism and Israeli military activities has alarmed Palestinians in the occupied territories, who believe they will now face the same fate as their Gaza counterparts.
Residents have also reported a significant increase in Israeli checkpoints and delays across the region.
Speaking to Al Jazeera from Bethlehem, Palestinian researcher and activist Hamza Zubiedat said the situation in the occupied area has become “horrendous”.
“By separating and cutting Palestinian villages and towns, it means no more doctors, nurses, teachers, even carrying goods and fruits and vegetables from one place to another.
“It means poverty and suffering for the Palestinian people,” he said.
Zubiedat said Israel is taking an “increasing approach” with the support of the Trump administration, with the new president of the United States having already promoted it. penalties he was placed on more than 30 Israeli teams and organizations by his predecessors.
Elise Stefanik, President Donald Trump's nominee for US ambassador to the United Nations, told US senators on Tuesday that Israel had taken action. “biblical freedom” in the West Bank.
In response, Farhan Haq, the UN's chief spokesman, told Al Jazeera, “The future of the West Bank, Gaza and all the occupied Palestinian territories must be resolved through negotiations between the Israeli and Palestinian authorities.”