By Ali Sawafta
JENIN (Reuters) -Israel’s military searched areas around settlements in the occupied West Bank on Saturday after two separate security incidents the previous evening, as a major army and police operation continued in the flashpoint city of Jenin.
In Jenin, drones and helicopters circled overhead while the sound of sporadic firing could be heard in the city, where hundreds of Israeli troops have been operating since Wednesday in one of their largest operations in the West Bank in months.
The operation, which Israel says was launched to block Iranian-backed militant groups from carrying out attacks on its civilians, has drawn international calls for a halt.
At least 19 Palestinians, including armed fighters and civilians, have now been killed since the beginning of the operation on Wednesday morning.
The West Bank operation has underscored both the plight of Palestinian civilians and the range of security challenges facing Israeli forces, with no let-up in sight in Gaza where troops have been battling bands of Hamas fighters for months.
Late on Friday, Israeli forces said two men were killed in separate incidents near Gush Etzion, a large West Bank settlement cluster located south of Jerusalem, that the military assessed were both attempted attacks on Israelis.
In the first, a car exploded at a petrol station in what the army said was an attempted car bombing attack. The military said a man was shot dead after he got out of the car and tried to attack soldiers.
In the second incident, a man was killed after the military said a car attempted to ram a security guard and infiltrate, the Karmei Tzur settlement. The car was chased by security and crashed and an explosive device in the car was detonated, the military said in a statement.
The two deaths were confirmed by Palestinian health authorities, which did not give details of how they died.
Troops combed the area following the two incidents, which underscored Israeli fears of Palestinian attacks on Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Security forces also carried out raids in the city of Hebron, where the two men came from.
Palestinian Islamist group Hamas issued a statement on Saturday praising what it called a “double heroic operation” in the West Bank, saying it “is a clear message that resistance will remain striking, prolonged and sustained as long as the brutal occupation’s aggression and targeting of our people and land continue”.
The group, however, did not claim direct responsibility for the attacks.
CLASHES IN JENIN
Meanwhile ceasefire talks on Gaza backed by Qatar, Egypt and the United States remain apparently blocked and there has also been a major escalation of tensions with Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon.
Army chief General Herzi Halevi, who conducted a security review, said on Saturday Israel’s defensive measures would be stepped up as well as offensive actions like the major operation in the volatile city of Jenin.
Fierce clashes were reported between Israeli troops and Palestinian fighters from the armed factions that have long had a strong presence in the city and the adjoining refugee camp, a densely populated township housing families driven from their homes in the 1948 Middle East war.
The Palestinian Red Crescent reported on Saturday that a child had been taken to hospital in Jenin with a bullet wound to the head.
Amid the gunfire, armoured bulldozers searching for roadside bombs have ploughed up large stretches of paved roads and water pipes have been damaged, leading to flooding in some areas.
This week’s Israeli military operation in Jenin and Tulkarm, another volatile city in the West Bank, as well as the Jordan Valley, was one of the largest in months, involving hundreds of troops backed by armoured vehicles, drones and helicopters.