“While we support Israel’s right to self defence, the protection of civilians must be prioritised,” he said.

 

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has called Israel ‘’to exercise restraint in carrying out its operations and avoid further escalation in the West Bank and Gaza.’’

“While we support Israel’s right to self defence, the protection of civilians must be prioritised,” a spokesperson for Sunak said. “In any military operation, we would urge the Israel Defence Forces to demonstrate restraint in its operations and for all parties to avoid further escalation in the West Bank and Gaza.”

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched a major counterterror operation in Jenin in Samaria (northern West Bank) on  Monday, including the entry into the city of  significant ground forces.

“IDF forces are encircling the refugee camp from all directions as part of a ‘brigade-level’ operation,” said IDF Spokesperson Brig. Gen. Daniel Hagari. “We have no intention of occupying the refugee camp, and this is not an operation against the Palestinian Authority. We will create a sequence of operations in the northern part of the West Bank,” he added.

The assault in Jenin began with an attack on a terrorist command center that was deliberately placed among UNRWA facilities such as a school and a food distribution center.

The site was the “unified headquarters of the factions in the Jenin refugee camp and the operatives of the ‘Jenin Battalion,’” the IDF said in a statement.

The House and Garden Operation’s objective is to break the city’s terror infrastructure, which includes destroying labs where improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and weapons are built, to target armed men, to collect weapons, and to arrest wanted men.

The IDF targeted several command and control centres. Three explosive laboratories have been discovered, including a storehouse for hundreds of IEDs and several thousand grenades. At a mosque IDF troops found two underground shafts that were used to store large quantities of weapons. So far, 120 wanted men have been arrested and 20 targets have been attacked from the air. 10 armed gunmen  have been killed.