NABLUS: Israel has launched a large-scale military offensive today in the occupied West Bank, where the military said it killed 9 Palestinians, while the nearly 11-month Gaza conflict showed no sign of abating. The war in Gaza has killed over 40,000 people in Gaza, according to Gaza health ministry. It has also caused destruction at large level in the Palestinian territory, displaced about all of its 2.4 million people at least once and triggered a humanitarian crisis.
In the West Bank in the early hours of Wednesday, the Israeli army launched a series of coordinated attacks across four cities — Jenin, Tubas, Nablus, and Tulkarem. At least 10 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes and raids in several towns in the north of the occupied West Bank, a spokesman for the Red Crescent said Wednesday.
The spokesperson said that two people were killed in the city of Jenin, 4 others in a nearby village, and four more in a refugee camp near the town of Tubas. According to media reports, Israeli military has launched offensive in the north of the occupied West Bank. In a statement, the Palestinian health ministry also confirmed that two people were killed by Israeli forces in Jenin.
The new offensive comes two days following Israel said it conducted an air strike on the West Bank that the Palestinian Authority said killed five people. Violence in the West Bank has also surged alongside the war in the Gaza Strip, with over 640 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces and settlers since October 7.
Gaza Ceasefire Talks
Earlier on Tuesday, a US official said that negotiations on a ceasefire to end the war in the Gaza Strip are continuing in Qatar, following an earlier round of talks wrapped up in Cairo amid growing regional tensions.
In July, Hamas had accepted a US proposal to start talks on releasing Israeli captives, including troops and men, 16 days following the first phase of a deal aimed at ending the Gaza conflict, a senior Hamas source told Reuters.
In recent days, Israel has issued several evacuation orders for Palestinians across Gaza, the most since the beginning of the 10-month conflict, prompting an outcry from Palestinians, the United Nations, and relief organizations over the reduction of humanitarian zones and the absence of safe areas.
Displaced families and residents in the southern city of Deir Al-Balah and Khan Younis, in central Gaza, where most of the population is now concentrated, said they have been pushed to live in tents now packed on the beach.
