Israeli Raid in Jenin Continues Through Night

An Israeli military operation continued into the night in the city of Jenin during a week-long raid of the occupied West Bank.

Israeli forces were seen firing their weapons while taking positions around an armored military vehicle.

Hundreds of Israeli troops backed by helicopters and drones have been operating in Jenin and Tulkarm as well as other areas of the West Bank for the past week in a drive the military says is aimed at combating militant groups.

The operation has caused severe damage to infrastructure as armored bulldozers have torn up large stretches of city streets, in what the army says is a search for roadside bombs, and destroyed or severely damaged houses and other buildings.

At least 34 Palestinians have been killed during the operation, many of them claimed as members by armed factions including Hamas and Islamic Jihad but several with no apparent connection.

One Israeli soldier has been killed in Jenin, while in an apparently separate incident, three police officers were killed by a gunman who fired on their vehicle near Hebron in the southern West Bank.

This is while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected calls to soften his demand to keep troops in the southern Gazan border area as the price for a ceasefire deal, saying it was vital for Israel to control a key lifeline for Hamas.

"The axis of evil needs the Philadelphi corridor, and for that reason we must control the Philadelphi corridor," Netanyahu told a news conference in Jerusalem.

"Hamas insists for that reason that we not be there, and for that reason, I insist that we be there," he said.

ALso Israeli forces killed two Palestinians near Tulkarm, the Palestinian health ministry said, as a major military operation in the occupied West Bank continued for a seventh day. The armed wing of the Fatah faction claimed both as members.