Live: Israeli forces detonate 20 homes in Jenin
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The Jenin Battalion of the Al-Quds Brigades has announced that its fighters successfully detonated an explosive device targeting an Israeli armoured personnel carrier near Jenin camp.
The group claims the attack resulted in multiple Israeli casualties, with soldiers killed and wounded.
The incident comes amid Israel’s escalating military raids on the occupied West Bank, where Palestinian resistance groups have been pushing back against the relentless assaults.
Jenin, a stronghold of Palestinian defiance, has faced repeated Israeli incursions, with civilians bearing the brunt of the violence.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health has confirmed that Israeli occupation forces shot and killed another Palestinian in the town of Ta'nek, located in the Jenin district.
This latest killing raises the death toll from Israel’s ongoing military assault in the area to 10.
Israeli raids in the occupied West Bank have escalated despite international condemnation, with Jenin repeatedly targeted. Residents continue to face violence, mass arrests and home demolitions as Israel intensifies its military campaign against Palestinians.
Israel’s 15-month-long bombing campaign has reduced 80 percent of northern Gaza to rubble, according to Naji Sarhan, the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Public Works and Housing in Gaza.
He described the devastation as part of an "extermination war" and "ethnic cleansing" targeting Palestinians.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Sarhan said entire areas, including Jabalia camp, Beit Hanoun, and Beit Lahia, have been almost entirely obliterated, with eastern and western Jabalia also suffering massive destruction.
The Israeli war on Gaza has decimated homes, streets, and critical infrastructure, turning northern Gaza into a wasteland.
Sarhan estimated that more than 300,000 Palestinians have been left homeless, struggling to survive amid the ruins.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke with Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, backing the ceasefire deal while stressing the need for continued security cooperation. He also thanked Israel for its efforts to recover captives held in Gaza.
According to a UK government statement, the two leaders discussed ensuring the ceasefire's next phases are implemented "in full and on schedule", including the release of remaining hostages.
Starmer emphasised that humanitarian aid must now reach Gaza without obstruction, acknowledging the dire conditions Palestinians continue to endure after 15 months of Israeli bombardment.
Israel's state attorney on Monday dismissed an investigation against five men suspected of killing a bound Palestinian they held captive in the aftermath of the Hamas-led 7 October attacks.
Despite video evidence and admissions of guilt from the suspects, Amit Isman dropped the investigation, citing "low credibility of the confessions, which are likely just bravado".
The five men, identified as Roi Yifrach, Israel Biton, Akiva Kaufman, Israel Peretz and Saar Ofir, have been subject to investigation since November 2023.
They were suspected of abducting a Palestinian man who they alleged was an elite Hamas fighter who participated in the 7 October attack.
Ofir had claimed during an interrogation in November 2023 that Yifrach, the main suspect, showed him a video where he was stabbing a bound Palestinian's face, killing him.
Read more: Israel drops case against five men accused of murdering Palestinian captive
Elise Stefanik, Donald Trump’s staunchly pro-Israel nominee for US ambassador to the United Nations, has pledged to block American funding for what she says are "antisemitic" international organisations, echoing debunked Israeli accusations that UN agencies like Unrwa are linked to Palestinian resistance groups.
“Our tax dollars should not be complicit in propping up entities that are counter to American interests, antisemitic, or engaging in fraud, corruption or terrorism,” Stefanik declared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during her confirmation hearing.
Her remarks signal a continuation of Washington’s unwavering support for Israel, even as global criticism mounts over its devastating war on Gaza.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health has confirmed that nine Palestinians were killed and around 40 others wounded in yet another Israeli assault on Jenin in the occupied West Bank.
Israeli human rights organisation Gisha has slammed Israel’s blockade of Gaza, stating that the sudden influx of humanitarian aid following Sunday’s ceasefire proves access was deliberately restricted.
“The amount of aid we are seeing facilitated and distributed in the Strip is a clear indication that it was always possible for Israel to ensure the entry and coordination of aid,” Gisha said in a social media post.
Israel has controlled and limited essential humanitarian access to the Palestinians, with rights groups accusing Israel of war crimes.
After overcoming a series of criminal indictments and assassination attempts, Donald Trump won another term in the White House and arrived at the US Capitol to be sworn in as the 47th president.
His inauguration on Monday, which was also Martin Luther King Day, came at an inflection point for both the US and the Middle East.
Israel and the Palestinian movement, Hamas, on 15 January agreed to a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, potentially bringing an end to Israel's devastating 15-month onslaught. The ceasefire went into effect on Sunday, a day before the inauguration of Donald Trump.
Before his inauguration, Trump quickly insisted that his team secured the agreement, not the Biden administration.
Trump had previously warned that there would be “hell to pay” if a deal to secure the release of all the Israeli captives held by armed groups in Gaza was not sealed by his inauguration.
Read more: Social media erupts over Trump inauguration, TikTok ban and Gaza ceasefire
Israel's state attorney on Monday dismissed an investigation against five men suspected of killing a bound Palestinian they held captive in the aftermath of the Hamas-led 7 October attacks.
Despite video evidence and admissions of guilt from the suspects, Amit Isman dropped the investigation citing "low credibility of the confessions, which are likely just bravado".
The five men, identified as Roi Yifrach, Israel Biton, Akiva Kaufman, Israel Peretz and Saar Ofir, have been subject to investigation since November 2023.
They were suspected of abducting a Palestinian man who they alleged was an elite Hamas fighter who participated in the 7 October attack.
Ofir had claimed during an interrogation in November 2023 that Yifrach, the main suspect, showed him a video where he was stabbing a bound Palestinian's face, killing him.
Read more: Israel drops case against five men accused of murdering Palestinian captive
The Qatari prime minister has said he hopes the Palestinian Authority (PA) will return to play a governing role in a post-war Gaza.
"We hope to see the PA back in Gaza. We hope to see a government that will really address the issues of the people over there. And there is a long way to go with Gaza and the destruction," Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Switzerland.
He added that Palestinians in Gaza - and not any other country - should choose how the enclave will be governed.
A Palestinian civilian was killed on Tuesday by Israeli forces in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, despite a ceasefire agreement having come into effect on Sunday.
Wafa news agency reported that Salem Abu Shabeika was shot dead in Tel al-Sultan refugee camp, west of Rafah city.
London's Metropolitan Police chief, Mark Rowley, has come under fire after he told a pro-Israel group on Sunday that his force imposed unprecedented restrictions on a major pro-Palestine rally in London on Saturday that led to 77 arrests.
According to estimates by the organisers, the rally drew over 100,000 people. No previous pro-Palestine rally since 7 October 2023 has seen organisers arrested.
The Met has been widely criticised for initially approving the organising coalition's proposed pro-Gaza march from the BBC headquarters to Whitehall but then reversing course after political pressure.
Pro-Israel groups, Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, MPs and peers had reportedly urged Rowley to reroute the protest.
Police said in early January that the route was too close to two synagogues, although this reasoning was criticised by nearly a thousand British Jews, including prominent figures, in an open letter last week.
Read more: London's Met Police chief accused of bias after addressing pro-Israel group
Three Palestinian doctors and two nurses were wounded by Israeli bullets during the offensive in Jenin on Tuesday, Wafa news agency reported.
The wounded medical workers were identified as Dr Nader Irsheid, Dr Khaled Zakarneh, Dr Abdullah al-Zaher, nurse Mohammad Amarneh and nurse Ashraf Alawneh.
Wafa reported that Israeli forces had beseiged Jenin refugee camp, with snipers targeting any Palestinian who attempted to leave.
Ambulance driver Hazem Masarwa told MEE that medical teams in Jenin had been unable to reach the wounded.
According to Masarwa, casualties were lying on the ground in several locations, including Khallet al-Souha, al-Ghubaz, al-Hussan roundabout and al-Hadaf.
"There was also an injury to a nurse behind al-Amal Hospital, and despite repeated efforts, no one has been able to reach him," he added.
Ambulances came under gunfire while trying to reach the wounded, he said, and their access to several neighbourhoods was blocked after Israeli military vehicles were stationed at key entrances.
"It's very likely there are other casualties we're unaware of, given the widespread violence and the inability to move freely within the city," Masarwa said.
Yaron Finkelman, the Israeli military's southern command chief, has now followed military chief Herzl Halevi and also handed in his resignation.
