Middle East crisis: Israel launches West Bank raids in latest Gaza escalation

Mutaz Abu Sanad, a businessman who lives at a camp in Tubas, told NBC News he worries the Israeli operation in the occupied West Bank could last several days as Israeli forces search every home.

The military operation at the Al-Faraa camp began at 11 last night when Israeli forces took control of the entrances, Sanad said. Then airstrikes hit a home at about 4 a.m.

Sanad alleges that the Israeli army entered a sports club and converted it into a military base. A number of young men who were exercising at the club at the time were arrested, he said.

The situation at the camp "is extremely difficult," Sanad said. People fear moving around trying to leave as the search-and-arrest raids continue.

Israeli forces are raiding homes at a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank and taking residents for interrogation, said Nihad Al-Shawish, an official for the Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarm.

Al-Shawish told NBC News that forces are searching houses and detaining young men inside. He alleges that they are being taken to locations outside the camp for interrogation.

Some have been released, but Al-Shawish said there is no information about the whereabouts of others. He described a "climate of fear" as access roads to the camp have been "destroyed" and civilians are not on the street.

Josep Borrell, the European Union's high representative for foreign affairs, warned that the military operations in the occupied West Bank "must not" lead to an extension of the war in Gaza.

"The Israeli major military operation in the occupied West Bank must not constitute the premises of a war extension from Gaza, incl. full-scale destruction," Borrell wrote on X.

The World Food Progamme said it is once again suspending its movements in Gaza after one of its convoys was hit with gunfire as it approached an Israeli military checkpoint yesterday.

"It sustained at least ten bullets: five on the driver’s side, two on the passenger side and three on other parts of the vehicle," the organization said in a statement. "None of the employees onboard were physically harmed."

It said the convoy was returning from a mission carrying humanitarian cargo to central Gaza. Executive Director Cindy McCain described it as the latest in "totally unacceptable" security incidents endangering her staff.

"As last night’s events show, the current deconfliction system is failing and this cannot go on any longer," McCain said. "I call on the Israeli authorities and all parties to the conflict to act immediately to ensure the safety and security of all aid workers in Gaza.” 

Staff at the Jenin Governmental Hospital in the occupied West Bank are now able to move freely after facing "severe restrictions" by Israeli forces, a doctor at the facility said.

Testimony from the doctor was shared by Medical Aid for Palestinians, which did not identify the staff member. An ambulance crew that had transferred a patient to Nablus had to wait outside for several hours before being allowed back in, the doctor said.

"There was also scrutiny of the identities of patients and medical staff who wanted to enter or leave the hospital," the doctor said.

According to the statement, Israeli forces are still in the area but are no longer surrounding the hospital and staff movements are "back to normal."

Emergency services crews in the occupied West Bank have been obstructed from providing ambulance services by Israeli forces, a spokesperson for the Palestine Red Crescent Society said.

Teams across multiple camps were detained or prohibited from operating as they attempted to save lives, Nibal Farsakh said in a statement circulated by Medical Aid for Palestinians.

"Israeli forces stormed the medical point in al-Far’a camp, detained the medical teams and prevented them from any communication tools," Farsakh said. "They continued firing shots inside the medical point and assaulted the director of the Tubas Emergency Centre before leaving."

The Jenin Governmental Hospital was at one point blocked off entirely, he said, with crews not allowed to enter or leave the facility. Farsakh described the situation as "dire."

"Every minute matters in saving lives; it’s the critical line between life and death," he added.

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi called the Israeli military's operation in the occupied West Bank "a dangerous escalation that must be stopped."

"We again urge the Security Council, the EU, the US & all other members of the Int’l community to act firmly & immediately to end this aggression," Safadi said on X.

Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, has cut his visit to Saudi Arabia short and is returning to the occupied West Bank in light of the widespread raids, according to Palestinian news agency, WAFA. The PA holds partial control of the Palestinian enclaves in the West Bank.

Abbas' spokesperson, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, also released a statement today warning that the raids would "lead to dire and dangerous results," WAFA reported. Rudeineh said that there has been an escalating policy of destruction and violence.

"The world must take immediate and urgent action to curb this extremist government that poses a threat to the stability of the region and the world as a whole," Rudeineh said.

The body of an Israel Defense Forces soldier who was abducted Oct. 7 has been recovered from Gaza, according to a joint statement from the military and Israel's security agency.

In its statement, the IDF said the soldier's family had been notified but the military did not identify him at the request of the family. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the soldier as an IDF veteran who died on Oct. 7 while "defending the communities surrounding Gaza."

"The heart of the entire nation mourns the terrible loss," Netanyahu said. "My wife Sara and I send our condolences from the bottom of our hearts to his family."