Al Jazeera reports that at least eight people were injured in an Israeli army operation in the West Bank city of Jenin. Earlier updates had suggested three injuries.
As the fighting continues, the tally of injured persons is expected to rise.
Israeli forces blocked access to Jenin, establishing checkpoints at every city entrance. More than 50 armored vehicles, including bulldozers, took part in a raid conducted by hundreds of Israeli soldiers.
According to Al Jazeera, the Israeli army surrounded the three principal hospitals in Jenin and sealed their entrances. The forces attacked hospital courtyards and laid siege to them, hindering ambulance movement and delaying the delivery of wounded people.
The Middle East situation has intensified since thousands of Hamas militants infiltrated Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 7, following Hamas’s announcement of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood. In response, Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said the country was at war.
Israel’s objective in responding to Operation Iron Sword was to repel the attack, secure the release of more than 200 hostages including foreigners, and dismantle Hamas. To pursue this objective, Israel launched major rocket attacks on the Gaza Strip from the outset of the operation. Concurrently, the Israeli National Security Council decided to halt the supply of water, food, goods, electricity, and fuel to the Gaza region. Humanitarian aid shipments began moving through the Rafah crossing only after October 20, and aid volumes were reported as insufficient.
On 27 October, Israel announced an expansion of the ground operation in Gaza. The exact start date of the operation remains unclear, but prior to the assault hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled their homes, seeking shelter in southern areas. By 5 November, while a ground operation by IDF forces was reported to have surrounded Gaza City and severed supplies, fighting continued in central Gaza.
Earlier, Hamas had released information about the initial hostages.