Sinwar in Gaza “in a tunnel with 22 Israeli human shields”. The defense of the Hamas leader –

After Gaza, the West Bank. Israel has launched an air strike in the northern part of the West Bank, preceded by an evacuation order, which has caused at least nine Palestinian victims according to the territory’s health authorities. The incursion, which began on Wednesday morning, involved hundreds of ground soldiers supported by fighter jets, drones and bulldozers, targeting three areas at the same time, Jenin, Tulkarem and Tubas: Al Jazeera speaks of the largest assault in the last two decades in the Palestinian territories on this side of the Gaza Strip. According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, 4 people were killed in the Far’a refugee camp in Tubas, where the organization’s team had difficulty reaching the wounded “because Israeli forces prevented ambulances from entering the area”. Two more people are said to have died in Jenin, and another 3 were hit by a drone in the nearby village of Seir. Al Jazeera estimates that there are around 80,000 Palestinians in the areas where military operations continue.

The Israeli military described the nine people killed as “armed terrorists who posed a threat to the security forces.” In a Telegram post, the IDF said it had arrested additional “wanted suspects” in Jenin and Tulkarem, while confiscating explosives “planted under the roads” in the Far’a camp. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz called on the military to evacuate Palestinians from the West Bank, posting on X: “We must address the threat in the West Bank as we are doing in Gaza, including the temporary evacuation of Palestinian residents and any other measures required. This is a war for everything and we must win it.”

The international community’s reactions are concerned: the EU High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, explains that he shares “the concerns of Jordanian Deputy Prime Minister Ayman Safadi on the repeated violations of the status quo of the holy sites, under the continuous threat also of Minister Ben Gvir. These are entirely legitimate issues and must be addressed by the international community. Regional stability is at stake”. And the United Nations, through the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, contests “the increasingly military response that violates international law and risks further inflaming an already explosive situation”.

Meanwhile, in the Gaza Strip, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is said to be hiding in a tunnel surrounded by 22 Israeli hostages, alive but handcuffed. They are acting as human shields to defend themselves from Israeli raiders, reports the Jewish Chronicle, citing intelligence sources. According to the newspaper, the other Israeli hostages are said to be in the hands of various groups.