Clashes erupted between Israeli forces and Palestinian fighters in the occupied West Bank on Saturday as Israel continued its military operation in the volatile city of Jenin amid fears of a "third front" emerging in Israel's war on Iran-backed militants.
Israeli troops conducted searches in areas surrounding Jewish settlements after two separate security incidents on Friday night. In Jenin, drones and helicopters circled above, while sporadic gunfire echoed through the city.
Since Wednesday, hundreds of Israeli troops have been carrying out raids in what is one of the most extensive operations in the West Bank in recent months.
Israel says the operation was launched to prevent attacks on its citizens by militant groups backed by Iran.
An Israeli official, speaking to Iran International, revealed on August 29 that "terrorists, with the support of the Islamic Republic," have established military bases in cities and refugee camps across the West Bank.
The official emphasized that Israel's ongoing operation, aimed at dismantling this Iranian-backed network, has no set end date.
So far, at least 19 Palestinians, including both armed fighters and civilians, have been killed since the operation began, according to Reuters. The Israeli military announced on Saturday that a soldier had also been killed during the fighting in the West Bank.
The Israeli forces are confronting Palestinian fighters from armed factions that have long maintained a significant presence in Jenin and the adjacent refugee camp, a densely populated area housing families displaced during the 1948 Middle East war, which coincided with the creation of Israel.
On Saturday, the Palestinian Red Crescent reported that a child in Jenin had been taken to the hospital with a bullet wound to the head.
This escalation in the West Bank occurs amid ongoing fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, nearly 11 months after the conflict began. Additionally, hostilities with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement along the Israel-Lebanon border have intensified.
Late Friday, Israeli forces reported that two men were killed in separate incidents near Gush Etzion, a large settlement cluster in the West Bank south of Jerusalem. The military believes both were attempted attacks on Israelis.
In the first incident, a car exploded at a petrol station in what the army described as an attempted car bombing. A man was shot dead after exiting the vehicle and attempting to attack soldiers.
In the second incident, a man was killed after the military said a car attempted to ram a security guard and infiltrate the Karmei Tzur settlement. The car was pursued by security forces, crashed, and then exploded, according to the military.
Palestinian health authorities confirmed the two deaths but did not provide details on how they occurred.
Troops scoured the area after the incidents, and security forces conducted raids in Hebron, where the two men were from.
Hamas praised what it termed a "double heroic operation" in the West Bank, stating that it was "a clear message that resistance will continue as long as the occupation's aggression against our people and land persists." However, the group did not claim direct responsibility for the attacks.
On Saturday, Israeli army chief General Herzi Halevi announced that Israel would intensify both defensive measures and offensive actions like the Jenin operation.
Amid the fighting, armored bulldozers searching for roadside bombs have torn up large sections of paved roads, damaging water pipes and causing flooding in some areas.
Since the Hamas attack on Israel last October, which sparked the Gaza war, at least 660 Palestinian combatants and civilians have been killed in the West Bank, according to Palestinian sources. Some were killed by Israeli troops, while others died in attacks by Jewish settlers on Palestinian communities.
Israel alleges that Iran provides weapons and support to militant factions in the West Bank, which has been under Israeli occupation since the 1967 Middle East war.
(With reporting by Reuters)
The rescue operation involved a rigid inflatable boat from the USS Daniel Inouye and a search and rescue helicopter from USS Theodore Roosevelt, the US CENTCOM announced on Thursday.
Rear Adm. Christopher Alexander, commander of Carrier Strike Group 9, commended the "swift and professional" response of the Navy sailors and aircrew, saying, "Aiding distressed mariners is a mission that our strike group will always stand ready to support."
The Theodore Roosevelt Strike Group has been conducting routine operations in the CENTCOM area of operation to deter Tehran-backed aggression and promote regional stability amid fears of an Iran-led retaliatory attack on Israel.
The rescue of Iranian sailors comes amidst ongoing tensions in the region, with Iran-backed Houthi rebels wreaking havoc on the international shipping in the area since November 2023.
The rebels released a video on Thursday showing them planting explosives aboard the Greek-flagged tanker Sounion, which had been abandoned after multiple attacks last week. The Houthis are seen in the video chanting their slogan: “Death to America; death to Israel; curse the Jews; victory to Islam.”
EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell on Friday warned that the attack by the Houthis against Greek oil tanker MV Sounion could result in an environmental disaster.
Since November last year, the Houthis have launched numerous attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea, following Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's call for Muslim nations to blockade Israel's trade routes amid the Gaza war.
On August 26, a day after this announcement, Yuriy Bilousov, Head of the War Crimes Department at Ukraine’s Prosecutor General's Office, stated in a television program that the opening of this criminal case signifies that Ukraine now recognizes Iran as a party involved in the war on its territory: "In fact, Ukraine has informed the entire world and presented evidence showing that Iranian military representatives are participating in Russia's attack on Ukraine."
According to the Ukrainian Prosecutor General, the investigation revealed that between July and August 2022, Russian military representatives reached an agreement with the Islamic Republic on the purchase of Shahed-136 and Mohajer-6 attack drones, along with related equipment, from Iran.
Kostin further wrote that after the contract was signed, Iranian experts trained Russian soldiers to use these drones in combat operations against Ukraine.
In fact, in July 2022, the United States warned that Russia and Iran were engaged in a process to deploy Iranian suicide drones in the war.
Kostin added that between September and October 2022, a group of military instructors from the Islamic Republic launched at least 20 attack drones in Ukraine's Dnipro and Mykolaiv regions, leading to the destruction and damage of civilian infrastructure protected under international humanitarian law.
The Security Service of Ukraine had previously identified this IRGC brigadier general, stating that Brigadier General Sharifi Mollasaraei directly assisted in commanding Russian Federation occupation forces in attacks on Ukraine and organized the training of Russian troops.
Russia has used hundreds of Iranian kamikaze drones since October 2022 to attack civilian and infrastructure targets. Russia also uses the drones in large-scale missile attacks to overwhelm Ukraine’s air defenses. The latest massive attack earlier this week saw around 100 Shahed drones used.
According to the Security Service of Ukraine, in 2022, Mollasaraei led a team of Iranian drone instructors who traveled to the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula.
The Ukrainian Prosecutor General emphasized that this IRGC brigadier general is charged under Ukraine's criminal laws with "aiding in an aggressive war as part of a premeditated plan against Ukraine, violating the laws and customs of war, and committing war crimes."
The report also indicates that, in addition to Mollasaraei, seven other military personnel from the Islamic Republic who were sent as instructors to train Russian occupation forces in Ukraine and the occupied territories are facing similar charges.
In October 2022, Ukraine's Foreign Ministry accused the Islamic Republic of Iran of providing military assistance to the aggressor country, Russia, in its war against Ukraine.
According to published reports, since the fall of 2022, the Russian Federation has used Iranian-made Shahed-136 and 131 kamikaze drones and Mohajer-6 multi-purpose drones in its war against Ukraine.
The Iranian government initially denied supplying its drones to the Russian military but later admitted to it, though it claimed that the drones were delivered before Russia's war against Ukraine began.
In November 2023, the White House warned that the Iranian government was preparing to provide ballistic missiles to Russia. Reuters later reported that Iran had already sent hundreds of ballistic missiles to Russia.
The official emphasized that Israel's ongoing operation, aimed at dismantling this Iranian-backed network, has no set end date.
The senior Israeli official outlined the extent of Iran's involvement in the West Bank, accusing Tehran of being the driving force behind the growing militant presence in the region. "Tehran has been involved in equipping, planning, and building terrorist infrastructure in the West Bank for more than two and a half years," the official stated.
"Officials of the Islamic Republic have provided money, weapons, and military training to Palestinian militants, and this [Israeli] operation aims to disrupt and destroy their capabilities."
Tensions have flared up between Tehran and Jerusalem in recent months, with Iran launching an unprecedented missile and drone attack on April that Israeli air defenses and allied air forces were able to fend off.
The official noted that the operation has already resulted in the deaths of 18 people, two of whom were civilians. "The military is currently investigating the circumstances surrounding these civilian deaths, but the focus remains on dismantling the terrorist networks that Iran has helped establish," he added.
The ongoing military operation, which began early Wednesday, is one of the largest attacks on the West Bank in months. It spans the flashpoint cities of Tulkarm, Jenin, and the Jordan Valley, involving hundreds of troops, drones, helicopters, and armored vehicles.
This campaign, as Israeli officials have made clear, is not just a reaction to local unrest but a broader strategy to counter Iranian influence in the region. Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon has been vocal about Iran's role, stating, "Since October 7th, Iran has been actively working to smuggle sophisticated explosive devices into Judea and Samaria, intended for use in suicide bombings in the heart of Israeli cities."
On October 7, 2023, Hamas militants launched a large-scale surprise attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip. This unprecedented assault involved the firing of thousands of rockets into Israel, along with coordinated ground operations where Hamas fighters breached the border and infiltrated Israeli towns and military bases. The attack resulted in the deaths of approximately 1,200 Israelis, including both civilians and soldiers, and led to the capture of over 250 hostages, who were taken back to Gaza by the militants.
Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz has described the situation as "a war in every sense," highlighting Iran's attempts to destabilize the region by arming and funding militant groups. "The IDF is operating with force since the night, in the refugee camps of Jenin and Tulkarm to thwart Islamic-Iranian terror infrastructure that was set up there," Katz wrote on Wednesday. He suggested that Israel might need to consider "temporary evacuations" of Palestinian neighborhoods to minimize civilian casualties, a tactic that has already been employed extensively in Gaza.
Tehran's support for militant groups in the West Bank is viewed by Israel as part of a broader effort to encircle and weaken the Jewish state, much like the ongoing tensions with Hezbollah on Israel's northern border.
Despite these concerns, Israel remains resolute in its mission. "The State of Israel will not sit idly by and wait for scenes of buses and cafes exploding in city centers," ambassador Danon asserted, emphasizing Israel's determination to confront the threats.
A statement by the IRGC's Saheb al-Zaman Headquarters said a "gas leak" in an IRGC "workshop" in Isfahan killed one and injured 10 others.
The statement did not provide further details but used the word "martyr" for the only victim of the mysterious incident.
The public relations office of the Isfahan IRGC announced on Thursday that the death toll from the incident had risen to two, with Captain Mojtaba Nazari and Lieutenant Colonel Mokhtar Morshedi identified as the victims.
It is not yet clear if the alleged "gas leak" has caused any blast. So far, no explosion has been heard by social media users.
However, what makes the incident more suspicious is the IRGC-affiliated Fars News Agency's use of the hashtag #Israel in its initial report about the "gas leak". The hashtag was later deleted from the outlet's website, but it might hint to an act of sabotage, possibly by Tehran's arch-foe.
Isfahan is home to several important military bases and the Shahed Aviation Industries Research Center, which manufactures the Shahed-136 drones. It is also home to sites associated with Iran's nuclear program, such as its underground Natanz enrichment site, which Israeli sabotage activities have purportedly repeatedly targeted.
Back in April, a central part of an air defense system at an Iranian air base in Isfahan was hit by an Israeli attack which came shortly after the IRGC's massive attack on Israel. Unnamed US officials said at the time missiles were fired from Israeli fighter jets over Iraqi airspace and “hit” their intended target which was the Eighth Shekari Air Base, about 20 km northeast of Isfahan and 150 km south of the nuclear facility at Natanz.
The imagery of the Iranian S-300 air defense system showed some significant damage to its fire control radar, while the missile launchers were apparently left intact.
