The Israeli army set fire to several homes in the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank, according to eyewitness accounts.
“Five homes were torched in the Al-Ghaber neighborhood of the Jenin camp,” a witness told Anadolu.
The incident occurred as the army continued its military operation in Jenin for a third consecutive day, leaving at least 12 people dead and 40 others injured.
An Israeli military statement described the ongoing operation, code-named “Iron Wall,” as one expected to last several days.
Israeli media reports suggested that the assault on Jenin was a political move by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to appease far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who had opposed the recent Gaza ceasefire. Netanyahu reportedly promised the operation to prevent Smotrich from resigning, which could lead to the collapse of the government.
Tensions have been escalating in the occupied West Bank amid Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Gaza. Since October 7, 2023, the war in Gaza has claimed nearly 47,300 lives, most of them women and children, and injured over 111,400 people. In the West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry reports that at least 873 Palestinians have been killed and more than 6,700 injured by Israeli forces during the same period.
A ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement took effect in Gaza on January 19, temporarily halting Israel’s military operations in the Palestinian enclave.
In July, the International Court of Justice ruled that Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian territory is illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
