Israel’s biggest military offensive in the occupied West Bank in two decades entered its third day, with troops using bulldozers to fire live ammunition and tear gas, leaving a trail of destruction behind.
Early Friday morning, witnesses said Israeli forces attacked a vehicle in the village of Jabbabe, south of Jenin, killing three people.
The Israeli military said one of its aircraft “struck a terrorist unit” after an “encounter with security forces.” Footage from the strike showed a vehicle engulfed in flames.
The Jenin battalion of the Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement, previously said its fighters had engaged in “fierce clashes” with Israeli soldiers in Jenin.
Among the dead was Wassam Hazem, the Hamas chief in Jenin, according to the Israeli military. There was no immediate confirmation from Palestinian groups.
According to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, the Palestinian Red Crescent said Israeli forces prevented ambulances from reaching the scene of the attack.
Israeli troops withdrew from the city of Tulkarem and two refugee camps late Thursday night after a 48-hour operation that left four people dead and widespread destruction of civilian property and infrastructure.
Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim reports from the Noor Shams refugee camp, where Palestinian civil defense forces are trying to repair some of the damage caused by Israeli airstrikes, and damaged roads are complicating travel.
“If the Palestinians fix a water line here or an electricity line there, the Israeli army could come back and destroy them again,” she said. “The Palestinians say they have no choice but to leave because Israel wants to make their lives more complicated, especially in the refugee camps,” she added.
Israeli troops also withdrew from the Farah refugee camp in southern Tubas, where four people were killed and civilian property and infrastructure were destroyed.
While Jenin, Tulakrem, and Tubas (all in the northern West Bank) have seen the most violence, Israeli forces have also targeted other areas, including Nablus and the nearby Balata refugee camp, the village of Anabta east of Tulakrem, the village of Hussan west of Bethlehem, and the Hebron governorate.
Wafa reported on Friday that Israeli forces arrested at least five people near Hebron and Ramallah.
Palestinian health officials and human rights groups say at least 20 people, including children, have been killed since the Israeli invasion began Wednesday. Israeli forces say they have killed 12 Palestinian fighters.
The Israeli military claims it is targeting members of armed groups, and gunfire has erupted between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian fighters in several places.
But residents say Israeli forces are deliberately attacking refugee camps while destroying roads and infrastructure. Some fear the long-term strategy is to drive Palestinians from their homes.
“The Israelis are creating conditions for people to leave, by almost completely destroying the infrastructure, cutting off electricity and water. They want to leave people with nothing, so that they will eventually have to leave on their own,” activist Hussein al-Sheikh Ali told Al Jazeera in Tulkarem.
But Al Jazeera’s Ibrahim also said: “People talk a lot about resistance. They say they know the Israeli army wants to make their lives harder… and that’s why they stay here.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz on Wednesday called for a “temporary evacuation” of Palestinians from the West Bank to fight militant groups. Activists warned that the statement could pave the way for the region to suffer a similar fate to Gaza, with massive destruction and displacement.
