This is a locating map of Israel and the Palestinian Territories.
AP
hide captions
switch captions
AP
This is a locating map of Israel and the Palestinian Territories.
AP
JERUSALEM — Israeli drones hit targets in a rebel stronghold in the occupied West Bank early Monday and hundreds of troops were deployed in the area, an incursion. similar to the large-scale military operations carried out during the second Palestinian uprising two decades ago. Palestinian health officials say at least four Palestinians have been killed.
Troops remained inside Jenin refugee camp early Monday, pushing ahead with the largest operation in the region in more than a year of fighting. It comes at a time of growing domestic pressure for a tough response to a series of attacks on Israeli settlers – including last week’s shooting that left four people dead.
Black smoke rose from the crowded streets of the camp as the army continued. According to Palestinian media reports, the operation has disrupted the lives of local residents, with power cuts in some areas and a military bulldozer seen running through the streets. narrow street – another reminder of the Israeli incursions during the last uprising. Palestinians condemn the violence.
Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hecht, an army spokesman, said the operation began shortly after 1 a.m. with an airstrike on a building used by the militants to plan the attack. He said the goal of the operation was to destroy and confiscate weapons.
“We don’t plan to stand firm,” he said. “We are acting against specific targets.”
He said that a brigade-sized force – about 2,000 soldiers – was involved in the operation and military drones carried out a series of strikes to clear the way for ground forces. Although Israel has carried out individual airstrikes in the West Bank in recent weeks, Hecht said Monday’s series of strikes marked an escalation not seen since 2006 – the end of the uprising. Palestinian awakening.
While Israel described the attack as a defining campaign, videos on Palestinian social media showed a large column of white smoke rising from a crowded area, with a mosque nearby. Other videos show an injured man being carried to the hospital on a stretcher, while another is carried by a group of men.
According to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa, the army blocked roads in the camp, occupied houses and buildings, and deployed snipers on rooftops. The agency also said the army had cut power to large areas of the camp and that army bulldozers had caused property damage.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said at least three Palestinians had been killed and 13 wounded early Monday, three of them in critical condition. Hecht said as many as seven fighters are believed to have died.
In another incident, a 21-year-old Palestinian was killed by Israeli fire near the West Bank city of Ramallah, the ministry said.
“Our Palestinian people will not kneel, will not surrender, will not raise the white flag and will stand firm on their land in the face of this brutal act of aggression,” said Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for the General Assembly. Palestinian President, said in a statement. .
Camp Jenin and an adjacent town of the same name have become flashpoints as Israeli-Palestinian violence has escalated since the spring of 2022. Jenin has long been a bastion of armed struggle against Israel and a focal point. major conflict in the most recent Palestinian uprising.
In 2002, a few days after a Palestinian suicide bombing during a large Passover gathering that killed 30 people, the Israeli military launched a large-scale operation at Camp Jenin. For eight days and nights, they fought warriors on every street, using armored bulldozers to destroy blocks of houses, many of which were trapped.
Monday’s raid comes two weeks after another violent confrontation in Jenin and after the military said a rocket was fired from the area last week, which landed on the West Coast.
“There’s been a dynamism around Jenin here in the last year,” Hecht said, defending the tactic Monday. “It has been enhanced all the time.”
But there can also be political considerations. Leading members of Israel’s far-right government, mainly West Bank settlers and their supporters, have called for a broader military response to the ongoing violence in the region. area.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a radical nationalist who recently called on Israel to destroy “thousands” of rebels if necessary, wrote on Twitter: “Proud of you guys. our heroes on all fronts and this morning especially about our soldiers operating in Jenin.” “Pray for their success.”
Monday’s deaths bring the total number of Palestinians killed this year in the West Bank to 132, part of a surge in violence that has lasted more than a year that has seen some of the worst bloodshed in the country. that area for nearly two decades.
The outbreak of violence escalated last year after a series of Palestinian attacks prompted Israel to step up attacks in the West Bank.
Israel says the attacks are aimed at fighting back the militants. Palestinians say such violence is inevitable without any political progress with Israel and the increasing settlement building in the West Bank and the violence of extremist settlers. . They see Israel’s growing military presence in the region as an entrenched entrenchment of the 56-year Israeli occupation of the territory.
Israel said most of those killed were militants, but youths who hurled stones against the invasions and who did not take part in the confrontations were also killed.
Palestinian attacks against Israelis since the start of this year have killed 24 people.
Israel captured the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip during the 1967 Middle East war. Palestinians seek those territories for the independent state they hope for.
