Live UpdateFrom the Liveblog of Monday, July 3, 2023

Hamas on IDF op in Jenin: ‘Our people everywhere know how to respond to this barbaric aggression’

3 July 2023, 11:35 am 1 Edit

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh speaks during a press conference after meeting with Lebanese President Michel Aoun, at the presidential palace, in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, June 28, 2021. (Dalati Nohra/Lebanese Official Government via AP)

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh says in a statement that “our people” know how to respond to the massive operation by the Israel Defense Forces in the West Bank city.

“We call on our people throughout the West Bank to stand by Jenin and defend its people in order to thwart the enemy’s plan,” Haniyeh says in a statement.

“The blood being shed in Jenin will determine the nature of the next stage in all directions,” he says.

“Our people and their resistance everywhere know how to respond to this barbaric aggression,” Haniyeh says.

At least five Palestinians have been killed in the hours since the Israeli military launched its operation.

The campaign appeared to be the largest in the West Bank in years, and came as tensions were sky-high following a series of deadly terror attacks carried out by Palestinians from the Jenin area.