UPDATE - Death toll in Israel’s West Bank offensive reaches 19

UPDATES WITH STATEMENT FROM AL-QASSAM BRIGADES

By Qais Abu Samra

JENIN, Palestine (AA) - At least three Palestinians were killed near Jenin on Friday, bringing the death toll from Israel’s recently launched operation in the occupied northern West Bank to 19.

According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, the bodies were taken away by Israeli forces.

Earlier, the Israeli army said its forces killed three Palestinians near the town of Zababdeh, south of Jenin.

The army claimed that the victims were members of the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.

The Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, said that two of its fighters were killed in an Israeli attack on Jenin and Tulkarm in the occupied West Bank.

In a statement, the Al-Qassam Brigades said that its fighters in Jenin, Tulkarm, and Tubas "were able to ambush Israeli forces, causing significant losses," without providing further details.

On Wednesday, the Israeli army launched the largest military offensive since 2002 in the cities of Tulkarm and Jenin, as well as in the Al Fara refugee camp near Tubas.

Tension has been running high across the occupied West Bank amid a brutal Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 40,600 Palestinians, mostly women and children, since Oct. 7 last year.

At least 673 Palestinians have since been killed, nearly 5,400 others injured and over 10,300 arrested in the occupied territory, according to Palestinian figures.

In a landmark opinion on July 19, the International Court of Justice 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 Ikram Kouachi in Ankara