Israeli Operation Causes Significant Damage in Jenin

Israeli army bulldozers were seen damaging roads in Jenin, as part of the wide Israeli operation on the Occupied West Bank.

The operation, which a witness said has yet to conclude, began in the early hours with hundreds of Israeli troops backed by helicopters, drones and armored personnel carriers raiding the flashpoint cities of Tulkarm, Jenin and areas in the Jordan Valley.

There was also a complete network outage at Jawwal, one of the two main telecommunications companies in the Palestinian territories of Gaza and the West Bank.

Hundreds of Israeli troops have been carrying out raids across the West Bank since last Wednesday in one of their largest actions in the area in months, which Israel says is aimed at rooting out Islamist militants.

The operation, now in its sixth day, has caused heavy damage to infrastructure in the city and the adjacent refugee camp, a densely populated township, with multiple damaged buildings and a mass of streets torn up by armored bulldozers hunting for roadside bombs.

Palestinian health authorities said at least 20 Palestinians had been killed during the operation.

Meanwhile children came to be vaccinated against polio for the second day in Gaza's Deir al-Balah, in a campaign led by the United Nations and in collaboration with Palestinian health authorities after a baby was partially paralyzed last month by the type 2 polio virus, the first such case in the territory in 25 years.

The campaign began on Sunday in areas of central Gaza, and will move to other areas in coming days and fighting was due to pause for at least eight hours on three consecutive days.

At the end of the first day, the territory's health ministry said at least 72,611 children had taken the vaccine.

Israel and Hamas, who have so far failed to conclude a deal that would end the war, said they would cooperate to allow the campaign to succeed.