Israeli Military Detonates Buildings In Palestinian West Bank Refugee Camp

Israeli military in the West Bank. (Source: IDF)

JAKARTA - The Israeli military blew up buildings in Jenin refugee camps, the occupied West Bank on Sunday in an operation that the Palestinian state news agency said had destroyed about 20 buildings.

The footage recording the destruction shows a series of simultaneous explosions in the densely populated camp.

Thick smoke billowing over the Palestinian city where Israeli forces have carried out major military operations for nearly two weeks, which the military says targeted Palestinian militant fighters and seized weapons supplies.

The Israeli military said 23 buildings had been "dismantled" in the northern West Bank after explosives laboratories, weapons, and observation posts were found.

In a statement on Sunday the military shared images of firearms, ammunition and what looked like gas cylinders. It was not mentioned exactly where the pictures were taken.

Director of the Jenin Wisam Baker Government Hospital told the Palestinian state news agency some hospitals were damaged by the explosion, but there were no casualties.

Jenin is home to a overcrowded refugee camp inhabited by descendants of Palestinians who were expelled or fled their homes in the 1948 war when the Israeli state was founded.

Refugee camps there have been the center of militant activity for decades, being the target of repeated attacks by Israeli security forces.

Israeli forces, backed by armored helicopters and bulldozers, began attacks on the city on January 21, two days after a ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and the militant group Hamas came into force.

Israel regards the West Bank as part of a multi-front war against Iranian-backed groups set up around its borders, from Gaza to Lebanon and including the Houthis in Yemen, and turned its attention to the area immediately after the halt to fighting in Gaza.

Meanwhile, the UN Agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said nearly all of Jenin's 20,000 residents had been displaced over the past two months.

The militant group Hamas on Sunday called for an "increase in resistance" to Israel after the demolition of buildings in Jenin.

Israeli forces have been involved in a shootout with local militants since the operation began.

Last Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Katz said on Wednesday that security forces would stay until the operation was over, without saying when it would happen.

At least 25 Palestinians have been killed since Israeli military operations began in Jenin, including nine members of an armed group, a 73-year-old man and a two-year-old girl, according to Palestinian officials.

The Israeli military said it had killed at least 35 militants and detained more than 100 wanted people.

Separately, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in a statement urged the United States to end Israel's military operations and requested an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council "to stop ongoing Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people".