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Palestinians in occupied West Bank face largest attack in decades
While trapped in the Gaza Strip’s quagmire, Israel appears to have opened another front… in the occupied West Bank.
Israeli troops have stormed into four cities, including Jenin and Tulkarem. Phone and internet networks are down amid the Israeli attacks. Attack helicopters and fighter jets have been deployed to the occupied West Bank. The Israeli military has blocked exit and entry points and restricted access to vital facilities—including hospitals—with bulldozers destroying many city streets. Sporadic exchanges of fire have been heard throughout Wednesday morning, but little resistance has been seen. Hospitals quickly began receiving casualties in the first few hours of the raids.
The UN human rights office has condemned the Israeli military escalation, and the EU chief has stated that Israel must not extend the Gaza war to the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli army has announced that 'Operation Summer Camps' will last several days. Israel’s foreign minister has suggested that the army should implement similar measures in the occupied West Bank as those in Gaza, including the evacuation of large numbers of Palestinian homes. The onslaught is the largest of its kind in more than 20 years, and the army expects it to last several days. Palestinians fear a more suffocating chokehold.
Since the conflict in Gaza erupted, Israeli forces have not spared the occupied West Bank. Over 663 Palestinians have been killed, including 150 children, before this latest round of raids began.
Antony Loewenstein, an independent journalist and author of The Palestine Laboratory, joins us from Sydney.
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