At least three people, including an Islamic Jihad terrorist, were killed by Israeli forces during the raids in the West Bank city of Jenin, Times of Israel reported on Monday. It reported citing the Palestinian WAFA news site that a third person was killed by Israeli fire in Jenin, amid reports of heavy fighting in the West Bank city. The deceased has been identified as Wiam Hanoun, who is the founder of the Islamic Jihad offshoot Jenin Brigade, as per Times of Israel. The footage shared online showed troops are still operating in the city after daylight.
Reports also indicate that among the casualties of the fighting is an iconic arched gate in the city centre.
However, the Israeli military has not commented on the matter yet.
According to the official Palestinian WAFA news site, around 100 military vehicles entered the city along with bulldozers.
Hamas’s al-Qassam Brigades said it was fighting Israeli forces entering the city, including by deploying explosive devices, Times of Israel reported citing the Palestinian Shehab news site. According to WAFA, an Israeli drone carried out an air strike during the fighting, injuring one person.
Videos from the scene show Israeli bulldozers tearing up streets and building barriers out of debris.
Earlier in the day, the Israeli fighter jets carried out airstrikes at multiple sites in southern Syria in response to rocket fire on the Golan Heights hours earlier, Times of Israel reported.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said in a statement that it struck launchers responsible for the cross-border fire.
“In response to the launches: the IDF attacked the launchers from which the launches were carried out from Syrian territory. An IDF fighter jet attacked a short time ago the launchers from which the launches were made from Syrian territory towards Israeli territory last night,” IDF posted on X (formerly Twitter).
The IDF had earlier said that a number of rockets were fired from Syria at northern Israel.
The IDF earlier said it had shelled the source of the launches in an immediate reaction to the rocket fire, which occured at around 9:45 pm (local time).
