Several thousand Palestinians have fled their homes in the Jenin refugee camp in the north as Israeli military launched the biggest military operation in the West Bank in years, according to Palestinian officials. The Palestinian Red Cresent said it has evacuated about 3,000 people from the Jenin camp, where about 14,000 people live in an area of less than half a square kilometre. Atleast 10 Palestinians have been killed during the raid were over 1,000 Israeli soldiers backed by air attacks raided the camp early on Monday wounding about 100 people.
The attack prompted the internationally backed Palestinian administration to suspend contacts with Israeli as the United States and the United Nations raised concerns.
Arrangements are being made to house from the camp in other locations, as Arab countries condemn military operation.
Palestinian officials said dozens of people had been detained by Israeli forces in their homes since early Monday, without being provided or allowed any food or drink.
The Israeli military said there was no specific timeline for ending the operation, but that it could be "a matter of hours or a few days".
Meanwhile, Turkey has condemned the raid adding that it was “deeply concerned” that tensions in the region could “trigger a new spiral of violence”.
“We reiterate our call on the Israeli authorities to act with common sense and put an end to such actions,” a statement by the Turkish foreign ministry said.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said the operation targeted a major Palestinian militant command centre. Fighting continued into Tuesday, after Israel carried out an airstrike on Monday afternoon near a mosque in the camp that the army said was being used by Palestinian gunmen.
Jenin has become a stronghold of a new generation of Palestinian militants who have become deeply aggravated by the Palestinian Authority's aging leadership and the restrictions of the Israeli occupation.
The city has witnessed repeated Israeli military raids in the past year as local Palestinians have carried out deadly attacks on Israelis. Other Palestinian attackers have hidden there.
In 2002, during the second Palestinian intifada, Israeli forces launched a full-scale incursion in Jenin. At least 52 Palestinian militants and civilians and 23 Israeli soldiers were killed during 10 days of intense fighting.
