Israel’s assault against West Bank enters second day, death toll rises to 18

Israeli bulldozers ploughed into critical infrastructure, cutting off communications in the city, the Palestinian Telecommunications Network reported. Electricity and water lines have also been damaged.

Paramedics report that they are repeatedly losing contact as a result of interference on their channels, with Israeli military vehicles delaying medical teams from reaching hospitals.

The Israeli military on Thursday announced it had assassinated and taken the bodies of five Palestinians, including top Islamic Jihad commander Muhammad Jaber in Tulkram, bringing the death toll from the offensive to 18.

The incursion, which began early on Wednesday, involved hundreds of ground soldiers supported by fighter aircraft, drones and bulldozers, targeting three areas simultaneously – Jenin, Tulkarem and Tubas – in the largest assault in two decades.

Since Israel launched its war on Gaza, Israeli army raids have become a nightly occurrence in towns and villages in the West Bank, with Israeli soldiers and settlers killing at least 650 Palestinians, including 148 children, and injuring more than 5,500, Palestinian health officials have said.

During this time, Israeli soldiers have arrested at least 10,200 Palestinians, according to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society and the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs.

The same groups report that at least 3,432 Palestinians are being held in Israeli military prisons without charge under “administrative detention”.

At least 1,432 Palestinian homes, and other structures, have been demolished, displacing 3,270 Palestinians, according to the United Nations.

There has also been an uptick in violence by settlers – Israeli citizens who live illegally on private Palestinian land in both the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem.