Israeli soldiers besiege Jenin as assault on West Bank enters fourth day

At least 20 people have been killed in Israel’s largest military operation in the occupied territory in decades.

Israel’s military is conducting raids in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank, blocking access to aid for Palestinians in the besieged refugee camp on the fourth day of its assault.

Dozens of Israeli soldiers were stationed on the outskirts of the Jenin refugee camp, Al Jazeera Arabic reported on Saturday, with Israeli military bulldozers and armoured carriers also seen.

Israeli forces blew up homes in the Jabriyat neighbourhood of the camp as they extended their largest military assault on Palestinian territory in more than 20 years.

“Palestinian residents continue to plea to have access to food, water and paramedics, all of whom are being obstructed from entry into the refugee camp,” said Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh, reporting from Jenin.

“This is day four, and the residents of the refugee camp have pretty much no access to any outside help,” she added.

Several gun battles between Palestinian fighters and Israeli soldiers have been reported in Jenin, Odeh reported, adding that videos on social media show extensive damage in the area.

The armed wing of Hamas said its members have “engaged in armed clashes” with Israeli forces in the village of Kafr Dan, which is located in the west of the West Bank city.

Israeli troops, along with armoured vehicles, drones and bulldozers, on Wednesday launched simultaneous raids in Jenin, Tulkarem and Tubas.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said an “elderly man” was killed in Jenin, without specifying his age, bringing the total death toll from the military raids to 20.

The Israeli army maintains its goal is to target armed groups in the West Bank and to prevent future attacks. It claims to have killed 20 Palestinian fighters and arrested 17. Hamas said at least 10 of those killed were its fighters.

Palestinian residents say that the trail of destruction left behind by the military incursion – which has destroyed infrastructure, roads, water and electricity facilities – suggests that the army’s goal is to make the territory inhabitable and push Palestinians out of their homes.

Two attacks in illegal settlements

In the south of the West Bank, tensions ratcheted up after Israeli soldiers shot dead two Palestinians suspected of attempting to attack Israelis in two separate incidents late on Friday.

The army said in a statement that troops responding to a vehicle catching fire and exploding at a gas station in the southern Gush Etzion junction killed a suspected assailant “who exited the vehicle and attempted to attack” the soldiers.

In a second incident, assailants rammed a car into the gates leading into the illegal settlement of Karmei Tzur and infiltrated the area. One assailant was killed.

Security forces have been dispatched to the area in search of other assailants, the army said.

Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service said it was treating three people for moderate and light injuries. Two of them were injured by gunfire at Gush Etzion Junction and a third was injured when his vehicle collided with that of the assailants, the rescue service said.

Al Jazeera’s Odeh said the situation in Hebron – the largest district of the territory where about one million people live – was particularly tense, as Israeli forces set up several checkpoint.

The continuing raids are the largest and most violent since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza. The parallel conflict unfolding in the West Bank has killed about 600 Palestinians, according to figures from the United Nations Humanitarian Affairs office.

The number of detentions since the beginning of the West Bank assault has risen to about 70, according to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society and the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs.

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Al Jazeera and news agencies