On July 3, Israel launched its most intense military operation in the occupied West Bank in nearly two decades, with hundreds of troops sent into the Jenin refugee camp and a series of drone strikes. At least eight Palestinians were killed and dozens more were wounded in the crackdown, which was reminiscent of Israeli tactics during the second Palestinian uprising in the early 2000s.

The camp, which is home to some 14,000 people, resembled a ghost town with armoured Israeli vehicles patrolling empty streets. Piles of burning tires and garbage containers littered traffic circles and power and water supplies were knocked out. Palestinian youths occasionally threw stones at the vehicles before darting away. At least 10 ambulances rushed to the overwhelmed local hospital and one ambulance arrived with a bullet hole in front.

The Palestinians and three Arab countries – Jordan, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates – condemned the incursion, as did the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation. The Palestinian leadership said they were halting their already limited contacts with Israel, freezing security coordination, and vowing to step up activity against Israel in the United Nations and other international bodies. Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said the troops were destroying militant command centres and confiscating weapons supplies and factories. He claimed the operation was taking place with “minimum harm to civilians.”

Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the chief military spokesman, said there were a total of about 10 airstrikes and Israel launched the operation because some 50 attacks had emanated from Jenin in the past year. Lynn Hastings, the UN humanitarian coordinator in the Palestinian areas, said she was “alarmed by scale of Israeli forces operation" and noted the airstrikes in a densely populated refugee camp.

UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, said many camp residents were in need of food, drinking water and milk powder. The Palestinian Health Ministry said at least eight Palestinians were killed and 50 people were wounded, including a 16-year-old boy and two 17-year-olds. Separately, a 21-year-old Palestinian was killed by Israeli fire near the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Israel says it has stepped up activity because of the Palestinian Authority's weakness and accuses Iran of funding militant groups involved in the fighting. Palestinians reject such claims, saying the violence is a natural response to 56 years of occupation, including increased settlement construction by Israel's government and violence by Jewish settlers.

The Jenin camp has been a flashpoint since Israeli-Palestinian violence began escalating in spring 2022. Islamic Jihad, a militant group with a large presence in Jenin, threatened to launch attacks from its Gaza Strip stronghold if the fighting dragged on, and Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group also made threats. Israeli military experts said they expected the operation to wrap up within a day or two, as prolonged violence and heavy casualties would risk increased international criticism and drawing militants from the Gaza Strip or even Lebanon into the fighting.

More than 130 Palestinians have been killed this year in the West Bank, part of more than a year long spike in violence that has seen some of the worst bloodshed in the area in nearly two decades. Israel says the raids are meant to beat back militants, while Palestinians say such violence is inevitable in the absence of any political process with Israel.