Palestinian Authority forces are clashing with armed groups in the occupied West Bank in a rare crackdown aimed at restoring order in a militant stronghold.

The Palestinian Authority has shut down the operations of Qatar-based news network Al Jazeera in the West Bank, according to local reports. In a statement, Al Jazeera condemned Fatah, the Palestinian Authority ruling party in the West Bank, for what it described as an “incitement campaign” against the news organization and its reporters.

Following a ten-day siege, the Palestinian Authority began, on December 14, a violent raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank. The PA security forces used similar tactics as used by the Israeli occupation forces in their routine attacks on the area.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday that more than 3,000 North Korean soldiers have been killed and wounded in Russia's Kursk region and warned that Pyongyang could send more personnel and equipment for Moscow's army.

The black-clad militants of Jenin refugee camp raced through sewage-filled alleyways to dodge gunfire echoing all around. “Quickly,” a Palestinian fighter urged as they weaved through a network of armed patrols and improvised barricades.

Palestinian security forces have launched a rare crackdown against local militant groups in the northern West Bank.

The Palestinian government has been carrying out a rare and lethal sweep against militants in a flashpoint West Bank city, saying it was needed to foil an imminent car-bombing and other attacks.

Palestinian Authority security forces have battled Islamist fighters in Jenin for days, as they wrestle to exert control of one of the historic centres of militancy in the West Bank ahead of a likely shakeout in Palestinian politics after the Gaza war.