Israel assaults West Bank; rescued hostage talks of fellow captive dying

The Israeli military conducted a massive operation in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, killing at least 10 people in a string of fierce gun battles across Jenin and other major cities as tensions heightened in a war that already has laid to waste most of Gaza.

Foreign Minister Israel Katz on Wednesday called on Israel to consider temporarily relocating Palestinians in Jenin and elsewhere during a major anti-terror raid. The Israel Defense Forces said it is allowing residents who wish to flee the combat zones to safely leave.

Israel is ramping up its efforts in the West Bank while continuing operations in Gaza, clashing with Iran-backed Hezbollah on its northern border with Lebanon at the same time commercial ships − some with Israeli ties − are threatened by Iran-backed, Yemen-based Houthi militants.

Katz said the military was "working intensively" in the West Bank refugee camps in Jenin and Tulkarm to crush Iran-backed terrorist infrastructures. He accused Iran of trying to establish an eastern terrorist front against Israel in the West Bank "according to the Gaza and Lebanon model" by financing terrorists and smuggling weapons from Jordan .

"We must deal with the threat just as we deal with the terrorist infrastructure in Gaza, including the temporary evacuation of Palestinian residents and whatever steps are required," Katz said. "This is a war for everything and we must win it."

The IDF said Wednesday's operation followed a sharp rise in militant activity in the West Bank in recent months. Israel has stepped up raids in the West Bank, where settler violence targeting Palestinians also has surged. Since the war in Gaza began, more than 600 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, the U.N. says.

On Wednesday, the Israeli military acknowledged its failure to protect residents in the village of Jit during an Aug. 15 rampage by about 100 settlers that left one Palestinian dead and houses and cars burnt. Four suspects have been arrested.

Hostage rescued in Gaza has message: Other captives are 'suffering'

Developments:

∎ The U.S. imposed sanctions on the Israeli nonprofit Hashomer Yosh and a Jewish West Bank settlement security official on Wednesday in an effort to discourage extremist violence against Palestinians.

∎ The body of an Israeli soldier killed in the Oct. 7 attacks and taken to Gaza has been recovered, according to the IDF, which said it won't identify him at his family's request.

∎ The U.N. estimates that almost 90% of Gaza's 2.3 million Palestinians have been under various evacuation orders since the Hamas-led assault on Israel that triggered the war Oct. 7.

∎ The Israeli military said its armed aircraft "attacked and eliminated" at least three armed militants in Jenin who posed a threat to the fighters on the ground. Special Forces raiders killed at least two more, the military said.

∎ Israeli forces also launched Operation Mosk, during which aircraft took out four armed terrorists who endangered forces in the Bekaa area of the West Bank. Israeli troops confiscated weapons and uncovered and destroyed explosives.

Hostage story of heartbreak and rescue

A former mayor of Rahat said hostage Qaid Farhan Alkadi, who was rescued Tuesday, told him a fellow captive died alongside him in Gaza.

Ata Abu Madighem told Channel 12 news that Alkadi, who lives near Rahat in southern Israel, said the other hostage was Jewish and that they had been held together for about two months. Abu Madighem said he had no other details. Alkadi, who is Muslim and a member of Israel's Arab Bedouin minority, told Abu Madighem he was not given any kind of special treatment by his captors.

“This story is breaking his heart. He has many (terrible) memories," Abu Madighem said. "But ultimately, he is talking about being saved.”

Alkadi received a hero's welcome Wednesday when he returned home to Khirbet Karkur, a village near Rahat that's mostly set to be razed because it was built without permits in a protected area, the Associated Press reported. He called on Israeli leaders to get the rest of the hostages freed. “It does not matter if they are Arab or Jewish, all have a family waiting for them,” Alkadi said, according to the AP. “They also want to feel the joy. I hope, I pray for an end to this.”

Iran trying to set 'ring of fire' around Israel, analyst says

The IDF's recent campaign in the West Bank is a response to Iran's attempt to establish a "ring of fire'' of its proxies around Israel, says Avi Melamed, a regional analyst and former Israeli intelligence official.

Given the likelihood Tehran-allied Hamas will lose control of Gaza after the war, "Iran has renewed its efforts to destabilize Jordan and the Palestinian Authority-controlled West Bank to serve as another front,'' Melamed said via e-mail.

He added that Iran's tactics have included fostering discontent and protests in Jordan, which has a border with Israel, as well as smuggling weapons and drugs into Jordan and the West Bank. In the latter, Iran-backed militants have gained a foothold in the large refugee camps, the focus of the Israeli military action, Melamed said.

Trying to stamp out the militants in those camps won't be enough, he argues. "Eventually, all strings lead back to Tehran,'' Melamed says, "and its imperialistic vision and aggression must be thwarted. It is not only a regional interest: it is a global necessity.”

UN: Israeli assault violates 'human rights norms'

The Israeli military operation in the West Bank “risks seriously deepening the already catastrophic situation” in the territory, U.N. Human Rights Office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said. She said many children have been killed "while throwing stones at highly protected Israeli security forces as have other Palestinians posing no imminent threat to life." Israel, as an occupying power, must abide by its obligations under international law, she said.

"The Israeli security forces use of airstrikes and other military weapons and tactics violates human rights, norms and standards," she said.

Militants attack Israeli vehicles in West Bank

The armed wings of the Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah factions said their gunmen were detonating bombs against Israeli military vehicles in the West Bank areas. The Palestinian health ministry said troops had surrounded Jenin's main hospital, blocking off access with earth mounds to stop fighters seeking refuge.

Israeli Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani, a spokesperson for the military, said the operation followed a sharp rise in militant activity in recent months. He said the military assessed there was an "immediate threat" to civilians, but he said the operation was part of a broad strategy aimed at thwarting attacks.

"This terror threat in this area is not new, it hasn't started yesterday and it's not going to end tomorrow," Shosani said.

News from the Middle East, explained. Sign up for USA TODAY's Israel-Hamas War newsletter.

Top UN court on West Bank: Israeli settlements are illegal

Palestians warn of 'dangerous consequences'

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said he was cutting short a state visit to Saudi Arabia following the launch of a large-scale IDF operation in the West Bank, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reports .

Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh warned that the West Bank operation will have “dangerous consequences.” Abu Rudeineh called on the U.S. to intervene immediately and force the occupation authorities to stop their "comprehensive war" on the Palestinian people.

"The world must take immediate and urgent action to curb this extremist government that poses a threat to the stability of the region and the world as a whole," he said.

West Bank has been scene of unrest

Unlike Gaza, which was administered by Hamas before the war, the West Bank is partially run by the Palestinian Authority. Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem − areas of historic Palestine that the Palestinians want for a state − in the 1967 Six Day War. Israelis have since built and steadily expanded settlements in the West Bank, and now almost 500,000 Israelis live there in addition to about 3 million Palestinians.

The United Nations' highest court ruled last month that Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories are illegal and all states should cooperate to bring an end to the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

Contributing: Reuters

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Israel assaults West Bank; rescued hostage talks of fellow captive dying