Live: Jenin raid ends with 12 Palestinians and an Israeli dead

The Israeli army is preparing to storm the mosque in Jenin camp where they say 10 "terrorists" are entrenched, shooting and throwing explosive devices, according to Israeli media.

The army said they had ordered the occupants of the mosque to leave and were to begin a "pressure cooker" procedure that could result in the destruction of the building and its occupants.

Earlier, the local branch of Hamas' armed wing Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades said Palestinian fighters drew Israeli soldiers into an ambush near the al-Ansar mosque before attacking them with heavy gunfire and leaving casualties.

Jenin residents have told Middle East Eye they experienced some internet and electricity outages in some areas of the city and its refugee camp, which is under heavy Israeli attack. 

Local journalists say the camp is completely surrounded by Israeli forces and no one is allowed to enter or leave.

Reporters and medics are struggling to reach some areas, which have been cut off from the rest of the city.

Israeli soldiers blocked paramedics from reaching a pregnant woman inside the camp, local journalists said. 

The leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement called the Israeli aggression a "massacre" against the Palestinian people in Jenin.

In a statement, he said Islamic Jihad and other resistance will "fulfil their duties" to stop the attacks.

The Islamic Jihad is one of the most prominent groups in Jenin, with a significant military foothold in the city.

Lynn Hastings, the UN humanitarian coordinator in Palestine, said she was "alarmed by scale of Israeli forces operation" used in Jenin.

"Airstrikes were used in the densely populated refugee camp. Several dead and critically wounded. Access to all injured must be ensured," she said on Twitter.

Her tweet came as Palestinian medics said Israeli forces targeted them with live fire and prevented them from reaching others wounded in Jenin. 

Health officials fear casualties are much higher than the official figure because paramedics still can't reach large areas in the city.  

A fierce gunfight has reportedly taken place in the Jenin refugee camp alleyways between Palestinian fighters and Israeli troops as the army continued its ground incursion into the city.

The local branch of Hamas' armed wing Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades said Palestinian fighters drew Israeli soldiers into an ambush near the al-Ansar mosque before attacking them with heavy gunfire and leaving casualties.

The Israeli military did not confirm whether any soldiers were hurt.

However, it said in a brief communique that "exchanges of fire" were occurring near a mosque and that an Israeli "aircraft struck to remove the threat." 

There were no immediate reports of injuries on the Palestinian side. 

Hello MEE readers,

The Palestinian city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank came under a large-scale Israeli military attack on Monday morning that is still unfolding. 

The offensive started with air strikes at around 1 am local time (11 PM GMT) as Israeli drones and Apache attack helicopters targeted several locations in the city. 

Now in its 12th hour, the military campaign has so far killed eight Palestinians and wounded dozens, although health officials warn the death toll could rise.

The Israeli military stopped short of calling the offensive a full-scale operation, describing it as a "focused and extensive effort".

But eyewitnesses and local journalists say the situation on the ground is the worst they have seen since the 2002 invasion of the Jenin refugee camp. 

Back then, the Israeli military laid waste to the densely populated camp - home to 13,o00 people - at the height of the Second Intifada. 

As Israeli army bulldozers and armoured vehicles advance towards the camp, destroying infrastructure in their way, heavy clashes in the camp continue to ring out as local Palestinian fighters confront Israeli troops.

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