At least 10 killed during Israeli raid in West Bank

Jordan warns the region could 'explode' after the offensive

- BEL TREW and ALEX CROFT

At least 10 Palestinians have been killed and dozens injured in an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank, with neighbouring Jordan’s foreign minister warning that the offensive could lead the West Bank to “explode”.

The raid, in the northern city of Jenin wounded at least 40 people, Palestinian health officials said, in an operation which Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said would be “extensive and significant”. The Israeli military said the aim of such a large-scale operation was to ensure militant groups “are not rearming a few hundred metres from Israeli communities”.

The raid comes days after the start of a ceasefire in the war in Gaza, triggered by an attack by Hamas on 7 October that killed around 1,200 people and saw another 250 taken hostage. Israel’s retaliatory offensive inside Gaza has killed 47,000 Palestinians, according to health ministry officials in the enclave.

“We have to learn from 7 October and not let terror groups regroup, rearm and plan terror attacks a few hundred metres from us,” international spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said, calling Jenin “one of the main points of terror”.

The Israeli military also revealed yesterday its soldiers killed an alleged militant in Gaza, who it said posed a threat to its forces. It appeared to be the first time since the ceasefire began on Sunday that it said it struck targets in Gaza. It was not clear whether the killing would affect the deal.

Palestinian media reported that on Tuesday, there were several airstrikes as a large number of troops entered the city and its refugee camp, backed by drones, helicopters and armoured bulldozers. Yesterday, Jenin’s governor said Israeli forces had “bulldozed all the roads leading to Jenin camp, and leading to Jenin Government Hospital”.