It is believed to be the first time since the second intifada – a major Palestinian uprising from 2000 to 2005 – that several Palestinian cities have been targeted simultaneously in this way.
Palestinian reports say that the main roads into Jenin have been closed off with armed clashes in the city’s refugee camp.
An Israeli air strike is said to have targeted a vehicle in a nearby village at dawn.
Israeli forces are said to have entered a hospital in Jenin and blocked off two in Tulkarm.
Israeli military raids of Nablus are reportedly focused on two refugee camps there.
In Far’a camp near Tubas, medics say ambulances are struggling to reach the wounded after an Israeli drone strike.
The Israeli military has given few details but said in a statement that the Israel Defense Forces, Shin Bet and Israel Border Police forces were “currently conducting a counterterrorism operation to thwart terror in Jenin and Tulkarm.”
