Israeli army bars Palestinian ministers from visiting Jenin amid West Bank offensive

By Qais Abu Samra

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) – The Israeli army barred a Palestinian ministerial delegation from visiting Jenin city on Thursday amid a major military operation in the northern West Bank, Palestinian authorities said.

"The delegation was obstructed by the Israeli army from reaching Jenin for two hours,” the government’s media office said in a statement.

The delegation includes government spokesman Mohammed Abu al-Rub, Local Governance Minister Sami Hijjawi, and Public Works Minister Ahed Bseiso, according to an Anadolu reporter.

Health Minister Majid Abu Ramadan, however, managed to enter the city but was prevented by Israeli forces from reaching the Jenin Governmental Hospital.

Jenin Governor Kamal Abu al-Rub said early Thursday that Israeli army forces were besieging the municipality building.

"Israeli authorities are trying to prevent Palestinian government ministers from holding a press conference inside the (Jenin) municipality building,” Abu al-Rub said.

The Israeli army launched on Aug. 28 its largest military operation in the northern West Bank in two decades, killing at least 39 Palestinians and causing massive destruction in the area.

Tension has been running high across the occupied West Bank as Israel pressed ahead with its brutal onslaught on the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 40,800 Palestinians, mostly women and children, since Oct. 7 last year.

At least 691 people have since been killed and more than 5,700 injured by Israeli fire in the West Bank, according to the Health Ministry.

The escalation followed a landmark opinion by the International Court of Justice on July 19 that declared Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian land unlawful and demanded the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar