Israeli troops on the fourth day of the deadly attack on the West Bank

Israel continued a large-scale military operation against Palestinian militants in the occupied West Bank for the fourth consecutive day on Saturday, amid fierce fighting in the nearly 11-month Gaza war.

Despite the clashes in the Gaza Strip, a local health official in the Hamas-controlled area said polio vaccination had begun there.

According to the World Health Organization, Israel has agreed to a series of three-day “humanitarian pauses” to allow for a mass vaccination campaign after Gaza's first confirmed case in 25 years, although officials had said the campaign was expected to begin on Sunday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressed that the ceasefire was not a “ceasefire.”

As clashes and explosions continued in the northern West Bank city of Jenin, two Palestinians were killed as they prepared to carry out two more bombings in the southern West Bank overnight, according to the Israeli military.

The Palestinian militant group Hamas, whose attack on Israel on October 7 sparked the Gaza war, hailed the twin attacks as a “heroic operation”.

Hamas-allied Islamic Jihad, which has a strong presence in the northern West Bank, congratulated those involved in the “coordinated attack.”

The Israeli army described a vehicle explosion at a gas station in the Gush Etzion settlement bloc as an “attempted car bomb attack by a terrorist” who was later killed.

An army officer “was moderately injured and a reservist responsible for security in a nearby community suffered minor injuries,” it said in a statement.

In the second incident, the security chief of the Israeli settlement of Karmei Zur was involved in a chase with a “terrorist” who had entered the settlement grounds. A clash ensued and “the terrorist was neutralized shortly afterwards,” the statement said.

“During the confrontation, an explosive device detonated in the terrorist’s car,” it said.

– Bodies recovered from rubble –

At least 20 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli army since Wednesday in simultaneous attacks in several towns in the northern West Bank.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad said at least 13 of the dead were members of their armed wings.

Since Friday, soldiers have concentrated their operations on the city of Jenin and its refugee camps, which have long been a stronghold of armed Palestinian groups fighting against Israel.

On Saturday morning, an AFP photographer in Jenin heard of ongoing clashes in the city. The streets were largely empty except for armored vehicles, one of which blocked the entrance to the state hospital.

“I think this is the worst day since the attack began… From time to time we hear of clashes and sometimes there are heavy bombings,” said hospital director Wisam Bakr.

During the attack, water and electricity were cut off at the hospital, leaving the hospital to rely on a generator and a water tank, he told AFP.

Since the Hamas attacks on October 7, violence in the West Bank has increased.

The United Nations said on Wednesday that at least 637 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza area by Israeli troops or settlers since the start of the war.

According to official Israeli figures, 19 Israelis, including soldiers, were killed in Palestinian attacks or army operations during the same period.

Among those killed since Wednesday were an 82-year-old man, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported, and two teenagers, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent, which said another 55 people were injured.

Britain, France and Spain expressed concern about Israel's operations in the West Bank, with Madrid condemning “an outbreak of violence that is clearly unacceptable.”

– Hezbollah drones –

In the Gaza Strip, Israel continued its deadly offensive in response to the October 7 Hamas attack.

Gaza's civil defense said rescue workers had recovered 29 bodies from the rubble since dawn and taken dozens of injured people to hospitals across the devastated area.

On Friday, a medical source at the southern Nasser Hospital said three people were killed in an Israeli attack near the southern city of Khan Yunis.

Israeli shelling in the Jabalia refugee camp in the north of the Gaza Strip killed two people on the same day, the Civil Defense Authority said.

The fighting has devastated Gaza, repeatedly displaced most of the country's 2.4 million residents and triggered a humanitarian crisis.

According to an AFP count based on official Israeli figures, 1,199 people were killed in the Hamas attack on October 7, most of them civilians.

Palestinian militants also took 251 hostages, 103 of whom are still in the Gaza Strip. According to the Israeli military, 33 of them are dead.

According to the Gaza Health Ministry, at least 40,691 people have been killed in Israel's military retaliation campaign. The UN human rights office says most of the dead are women and children.

The war has drawn Iran-backed groups from across the region into the conflict and raised fears of a larger conflict.

On Saturday, the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said it had fired “explosive-laden drones” at the Israeli barracks Beit Hillel “in response” to Israeli attacks.

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