A Palestinian official said hundreds of people began leaving their homes in a flashpoint area of the West Bank on Thursday as Israeli forces pressed a deadly operation there.
The Israeli military this week launched a raid in the Jenin area, a hotbed of Palestinian militancy, days into a ceasefire in its war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the objective of the operation, dubbed "Iron Wall", was to "eradicate terrorism" in the area.
"Hundreds of camp residents have begun leaving after the Israeli army, using loudspeakers on drones and military vehicles, ordered them to evacuate the camp," Jenin governor Kamal Abu al-Rub told AFP.
On Thursday evening the military said it had not asked residents to evacuate from the area.
"We emphasise that in order to maintain the safety of residents in the area, the IDF is enabling any resident who chooses to exit from the area to do so via secure and organized routes," it said in a statement to AFP.
Since it began on Tuesday, the operation has killed at least 12 Palestinians and injured 40 more around Jenin, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
Israeli forces have also detained several Palestinians from the Jenin area, with an AFP photographer seeing a row of blindfolded men in white jumpsuits being transported out of the West Bank.
Drones
Israeli army chief Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi said it was the right call to launch the assault on Jenin.
"I believe that once we recognised that the Jenin camp had become a hub for those planning terror attacks or looking for a safe haven after committing terror attacks, it was absolutely the right decision to go in forcefully against it," he said in a statement.
Palestinians had already begun fleeing the Jenin area on foot on Wednesday, with AFPTV images showing a group of men, women and children making their way down a muddy road, the sound of drones buzzing above them clearly audible.
The Israeli military said Thursday that it killed two Palestinian militants near Jenin during the night, accusing them of murdering three Israelis.
"After an exchange of fire, they were eliminated by the forces," it said, adding one soldier was wounded in the gunfight.
The two men were wanted for the killing of three Israelis and wounding of six others in a January 6 attack on a bus in the West Bank.
The Jenin raid began days after a truce took effect in Gaza on Sunday, after 15 months of war between Israel and Hamas.
'Unwavering support'
Under the fragile truce agreement, three Israeli women hostages held by militants in Gaza since 2023 were returned home, in exchange for the release from Israeli jails of around 90 Palestinian prisoners.
On Saturday, the two sides should undertake a second swap.
On Wednesday, the Israeli military said it had killed a militant in Gaza from the Hamas-allied movement Islamic Jihad, the first such reported death since the start of the truce.
US President Donald Trump has taken credit for finally clinching the deal, having sent an envoy to help push through an agreement before he took office.
On Wednesday, Marco Rubio, the new top US diplomat reaffirmed his administration's "unwavering support" for Israel.
Rubio spoke to Netanyahu from Washington on Wednesday night to "underscore that maintaining the United States' steadfast support for Israel is a top priority for President Trump," State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said.
By Mohammad Ateeq, AFP
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