RAMALLAH, Palestine

Israeli forces wounded five Palestinians on Thursday amid a military operation in the city of Jenin in the northern occupied West Bank.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said in a statement that its teams handled two injuries caused by Israeli gunfire in Jenin and received three other injuries at the Jalameh checkpoint resulting from assaults by Israeli forces on detainees.

The Israeli army continued for a third straight day a deadly military offensive in the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank, killing at least 12 people and injuring more than 40.

Israeli media said the Jenin assault is part of a political maneuver by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to appease far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who opposed the recent Gaza ceasefire.

Reports suggest that Netanyahu promised the attack to prevent Smotrich from resigning, which might lead to the collapse of the government.

Tension has been running high across the occupied West Bank due to Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, where nearly 47,300 people have been killed, mostly women and children, and more than 111,400 injured since Oct. 7, 2023.

At least 873 Palestinians have since been killed and over 6,700 injured by Israeli army fire in the occupied territory, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

A ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement took effect in Gaza on Jan. 19, suspending the Israeli war on the Palestinian enclave.

Last July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian land illegal and demanded the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala