It is believed to be the first time that multiple Palestinian cities have been attacked simultaneously in this manner since the Second Intifada, a major Palestinian uprising that lasted from 2000 to 2005.
According to Palestinian reports, the main road into Jenin has been blocked due to armed clashes in the city's refugee camps.
Israeli airstrikes reportedly targeted vehicles in a nearby village at dawn.
Israeli forces reportedly entered a hospital in Jenin and sealed off two hospitals in Tulkarm.
Israeli airstrikes on Nablus reportedly targeted two refugee camps in the area.
At the Farah camp near Tubas, medical workers said ambulances were having difficulty reaching the wounded after the Israeli drone strike.
Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) “have been conducting operations since last night in the Jenin and Tulkarm refugee camps with full force to dismantle the Iranian-Islamist terror infrastructure that has been built in those areas.”
He accused Iran, which supports the militant group Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, of seeking to create a new front against Israel in the West Bank.
He added: “We must address this threat as well as the terror infrastructure in Gaza. This includes the temporary evacuation of Palestinian civilians and all necessary measures.”
The Israeli military gave no details, but said in a statement that the IDF, the internal security agency Shin Bet and the Israel Border Police were “currently conducting counter-terrorism operations in Jenin and Tulkarm to thwart terrorist attacks.”
