16 Palestinians killed in West Bank Israeli raids

TULKAREM:

Israel on Thursday pressed a large-scale military operation in the occupied West Bank, leaving at least 16 Palestinians dead in two days despite UN concerns it was "fuelling an already explosive situation".

The "counter-terrorism" operation underway across the northern West Bank since early Wednesday has killed 16 Palestinians, the Israeli military said. The Palestinian health ministry gave the same figure, after both revised earlier tolls.

The raids on several towns and refugee camps were launched as violence raged on in the war-battered Gaza Strip, the besieged Palestinian territory separated from the West Bank by Israel.

In the West Bank, columns of Israeli armoured vehicles backed by troops and aircraft were sent in before soldiers encircled refugee camps in Tubas and Tulkarem, as well as Jenin, and exchanged fire with Palestinian militants.

The army said it killed seven militants on Thursday, including five militants in the Tulkarem refugee camp.

A military statement said one of the five was Muhammad Jaber, also known as Abu Shujaa, who Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad said was its commander in the nearby Nur Shams refugee camp.

Two other militants were killed in Jenin on Thursday, the army said.

The violence has caused significant destruction, especially in Tulkarem, whose governor Mustafa Taqatqa described the raids as "unprecedented" and a "dangerous signal".

The UN humanitarian office OCHA said "Israeli forces have repurposed homes as military positions" and were "effectively besieging" several medical facilities.

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres called for an "immediate cessation of these operations", condemning in a statement the use of air strikes and "the loss of lives, including of children".

"These dangerous developments are fuelling an already explosive situation in the occupied West Bank," Guterres said. AFPTV footage showed bulldozers ripping up the asphalt from streets in the city. Widespread damage was reported to infrastructure.

Witnesses said the Israeli forces had withdrawn from Al-Farra refugee camp in Tubas where several Palestinians were killed on Wednesday, including two teenagers according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.

AFP correspondents said clashes were ongoing in Jenin, where a drone was seen flying overhead and the streets were empty, and Israeli soldiers were operating in Tulkarem. The Palestinian Prisoners' Club advocacy group said at least 45 people had been detained in the West Bank since Wednesday. An Israeli military spokesman said "10 wanted individuals were arrested".

Jordan's King Abdullah II appealed for a ceasefire in Gaza to stop the spread of violence and Iran's foreign ministry condemned the Israeli operation as a "continuation of the genocide in the Gaza Strip".