Israeli forces launched a large-scale raid in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin early on Wednesday, storming residential areas and carrying out multiple arrests in what witnesses described as a sweeping security operation.
Local sources said that undercover Israeli units, backed by military reinforcements, entered Jenin’s eastern neighborhood at dawn, seizing a civilian home and converting it into a temporary military outpost.
Several residents were detained and subjected to on-site interrogations, witnesses said.
Schools suspended
In response to the raid, the Palestinian Education Ministry announced the suspension of schools in Jenin, citing concerns for student safety amid the unfolding military operation.
Tensions were also reported elsewhere in the occupied territory. In the central city of Ramallah, illegal Israeli settlers torched two Palestinian-owned vehicles and scrawled racist graffiti on nearby homes, according to local sources.
The raid comes as Israel continues to ramp up operations across the occupied West Bank following the outbreak of Israel’s war on Gaza in October 2023.
Since then, Israeli forces and settlers have killed at least 1,097 Palestinians, including residents of occupied East Jerusalem, wounded nearly 11,000 others, and detained around 21,000 people, according to Palestinian officials.
Last July, the International Court of Justice issued a landmark advisory opinion declaring Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories illegal and calling for the evacuation of all Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem—rulings that have yet to be implemented on the ground.
