By Athena Papakosta

In the early hours of Monday, Israel launched airstrikes with drones and ground assaults in the city of Jenin as well as in an adjacent refugee camp to it, to the north of the West Bank.

This is one of the largest Israeli military operations in the West Bank in two decades, and the world community is concerned about the risk of a new flare-up in the region.

It involves an entire infantry brigade of the Israeli army with the support of armored personnel carriers, diggers and snipers. According to the Palestinian Authority’s health ministry, at least ten Palestinians have been killed and more than 80 injured. At least 17 of them are in critical condition.

The Israeli military says there is no specific timetable for ending the operation.

Jenin looks like a ghost town. The armored vehicles of the Israeli army line its streets, while thick black smoke from burning tires chokes the atmosphere. According to reports, the army has taken over houses and snipers are being set up on rooftops.

Earlier, military bulldozers “plowed” its narrow streets, destroying buildings to open passages for Israeli forces. Those – few – Palestinians who came out were looking in the direction of the camp where up to 18,000 people are accommodated. This has now been declared a “closed military zone” by the Israeli army.

The hum of drones, regular bursts of heavy gunfire and loud explosions are all that can be heard from the area.

At the same time, the Israeli army has cut off telephone communication, electricity and water supply making the situation more difficult while Palestinian doctors are making efforts to reach the site and help the wounded.

According to testimonies of Palestinians in the Jenin camp, what is happening is a “real massacre”. In the international agencies it is pointed out that ambulances are rushing to the hospitals – full of relatives – looking for their loved ones, with one of them arriving with a bullet hole in the front.

The Palestinian Authority decided to cut off all communication and negotiation with Tel Aviv and continue the suspension of security coordination. It was preceded by an emergency meeting held in Ramallah under the leadership of President Mahmoud Abbas. At the same time, according to the relevant announcements, the latest agreements reached with Israel during the talks in Aqaba, Jordan, and Sharm al-Sheikh, Egypt, cease to be valid.

“In recent months, Jenin has turned into a haven for terrorism. We are putting an end to this,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, adding that “the operation is being carried out with minimal harm to civilians.”

In 2002, during the second Palestinian intifada (uprising) Israeli forces launched a full-scale invasion of Jenin with at least 52 Palestinians and 23 Israelis killed during 10 days of fierce fighting.

In recent months, a wave of violence has flared up in the West Bank, and the Israeli army regularly raids the area.

Since the beginning of the year, more than 140 Palestinians – both militants and civilians – have been killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, while another 36 have been killed in the Gaza Strip.

In June alone, seven people were killed, including two 15-year-olds, during an army raid on the refugee camp. Then the Israeli army fired rockets from a helicopter, something that has happened in the West Bank since 2002 and the second intifada.