Gaza: Israeli forces carried out a raid on the West Bank city of Jenin overnight. According to locals, a missile was used in the attack. This sparked a gunfight that continued into Monday morning and claimed the lives of at least three people.

Hours after the strike, gunfire and explosions could still be heard throughout the city, and drones could be clearly heard flying overhead. The Jenin Brigades, a group of militant organisations based in the city's sizable refugee camp, claimed to be engaging Israeli forces.

The refugee camp situation, according to Palestinian ambulance driver Khaled Alahmad, "is a real war." Every time we drive in five to seven ambulances and we return full of injured people, there are strikes from the sky directed at the camp.

Also Read: Pope Francis criticises decision to permit Qur'an burning in newspaper

In what it described as a comprehensive counterterrorism operation in the West Bank, the Israeli military claimed its forces struck a building that housed the Jenin Brigades fighters' command centre.

At least six drones were circling the city on Monday, but the military would not say whether any drone strikes were part of the operations. Drone strikes had not been used in the West Bank for more than 15 years until one last month that killed three militant gunmen close to Jenin.
The apparent size of the raid, however, highlighted Jenin's significance in the violence that has erupted throughout the occupied West Bank for more than a year.
The refugee camp, which has been the target of numerous significant raids by Israeli forces since the beginning of the year, is home to hundreds of armed fighters from militant groups like Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Fatah.

Monday's dawn was accompanied by calls to support the fighters coming from mosque loudspeakers as thick, black smoke billowed through the streets from tyres set ablaze by locals.

Also Read: UK police now have more authority to put a stop to protests

At least three fatalities in Jenin were confirmed by the Palestinian health ministry, while a second man was killed in Ramallah after receiving a headshot at a checkpoint.

According to the Israeli military, the target served as a weapons and explosives storage facility, coordination and communications centre, and a "advanced observation and reconnaissance centre" for the militant fighters.

It offered an aerial photo of what it claimed to be the target, showing the building that was hit, and showing that it was close to two schools and a hospital.

Monday's dawn was accompanied by calls to support the fighters coming from mosque loudspeakers as thick, black smoke billowed through the streets from tyres set ablaze by locals.

Also Read: Belarus Celebrates Independence Day on July 3

At least three fatalities in Jenin were confirmed by the Palestinian health ministry, while a second man was killed in Ramallah after receiving a headshot at a checkpoint.

According to the Israeli military, the target served as a weapons and explosives storage facility, coordination and communications centre, and a "advanced observation and reconnaissance centre" for the militant fighters.

It offered an aerial photo of what it claimed to be the target, showing the building that was hit, and showing that it was close to two schools and a hospital.