MOSCOW, July 3. /TASS/. Israeli forces are attacking journalists who cover the situation in the refugee camp in the West Bank city of Jenin, the Palestinian Ministry of Information stated on Monday.

"The occupation forces (Israel - TASS) confined the journalists in one of the houses in the camp and held them for two hours. Fire was opened at the journalists, and their camera and television transmitter were taken away and destroyed," WAFA news agency quoted the agency as saying. "All this is part of a strategy to conceal the occupiers’ crimes against the Palestinian people," it said. The agency did not say whether any of the journalists had been injured.

The ministry also appealed to the International Federation of Journalists and reminded it of the shooting in Jenin in 2022, which resulted in the death of Al Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh. The agency urged against a repeat of any such precedents during the ongoing fighting.

Israeli forces launched a large-scale operation in Jenin and the adjacent Palestinian refugee camp overnight to Monday. Shortly after the attack, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) entered Jenin and surrounded the camp, cutting off electricity and blocking access to it. A self-made rocket launcher was found during their raid. According to the Israeli radio station Kan, the operation is aimed at "restoring Israel's deterrence" against radicals in the northern West Bank.