THE White House closely monitors the situation in the West Bank, where the Israeli forces they hurt the city Jenin carrying out drone strikes as part of one of the largest operations in West Bank over the past 20 years, a spokesman said today.

“We have seen the reports and are closely monitoring the situation,” a White House spokesman said.

“We support Israel’s security and right to defend its people from Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other terrorist organizations.”

At the same time, the Israeli army announced that it needs at least 24 hours to complete the operation that began in the city of Jenin in the early hours of today, said an official briefed on military planning.

The military has so far refused to say how long the operation will last, saying only that it could last more than a day and that its forces will remain there for as long as necessary.