Further shooting and explosions reported after 10 killed yesterday as Ayman Safadi tells Davos meeting of fears for territory. This live blog is closed.
On Tuesday, Israeli forces launched an operation in Jenin which Palestinian officials said killed 10 people, just days after a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect in the Gaza Strip. According to Abu al-Rub, Israeli forces detained about 20 people from villages near Jenin, a bastion of Palestinian militancy. It is 5pm in Gaza City and Tel Aviv. The escalating Israeli raid on Jenin continued despite the recent ceasefire in Gaza. The Palestinian health ministry said at least 10 people were killed in Jenin, with more than 40 wounded.
The escalation in Jenin came as Israeli forces choked off entrances and exits to Palestinian cities across the West Bank using checkpoints. A committee within the Palestinian Liberation Organisation tracking Israeli activity in the territory reported that the IDF had ramped up the number of military checkpoints and iron gates, reaching almost The IDF did not comment on the precise number of new checkpoints.
In the early hours of Wednesday, Israeli soldiers also launched a raid on the Aida refugee camp located north of Bethlehem and in Tulkarm. Wafa said at least 29 people were arrested across the West Bank on Wednesday morning, most of them young men. The Palestinian Red Crescent said its ambulances had been prevented from reaching many of the dead and wounded who lay in the streets of neighbourhoods around the Jenin refugee camp. Their medics had treated seven fatalities and 17 wounded people, all injured with live ammunition, she added.
Wissam Bakr, the head of Khalil Suleiman governmental hospital in Jenin estimated that medical staff and patients were sheltering inside the hospital , fearfully crammed on any beds, chairs or spaces they could find. Supplies of food and water in the hospital would only last a few days.
