The Israeli military has initiated a sweeping operation in Jenin, a city in the occupied West Bank, resulting in drone strikes and fierce exchanges of gunfire between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants. The operation is reported to be one of the most far-reaching of its kind in recent years.
The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) have confirmed that a minimum of seven militants have been neutralised in the course of the operation. In contrast, Palestinian health authorities report a casualty toll of five, with thirty individuals sustaining injuries.
Jenin, which has been the theatre of numerous Israeli military incursions over the past year, is linked with a series of attacks on Israelis conducted by local Palestinians.
The military operation began before dawn on Monday and quickly escalated. Central to this operation was an Israeli drone attack on an apartment within Jenin’s sprawling refugee camp, which is home to approximately 14,000 individuals within a mere 0.42 square kilometres. The IDF posits that the targeted apartment served as a combined operational command centre for the camp and the Jenin Brigades, an amalgamation of various Palestinian militant factions including Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
Drone warfare has been escalated since the initial strike, with thousands of Israeli troops reportedly involved in what a military spokesperson has termed a “counterterrorism operation”. The aim is ostensibly to seize weapons and obstruct Jenin from functioning as a sanctuary for Palestinian militants.
The Jenin Brigades have pledged to resist the Israeli forces “until the last breath and bullet”, affirming unity across factions and military formations.
Ahmed Zaki, a camp resident, informed about the entry of “columns of Israeli army vehicles” into the camp from numerous directions. Khaled Alahmad, a Palestinian ambulance driver, described the escalating situation as a “real war”.
Israeli military representatives claim to have “neutralised” three Palestinian “terrorists”, followed by four more in Jenin overnight. The Palestinian Health Ministry has reported five Palestinian deaths attributed to Israeli forces, with a minimum of seven in critical condition. Additionally, a Palestinian protestor was killed near the city of Ramallah, according to reports.
The operation has been sharply criticised by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s spokesperson, who labelled it as “a new war crime against our defenceless people” and stated it would not contribute to regional security and stability.
This event follows a surge in violence within the West Bank over recent months. Last month saw the first Israeli use of attack helicopters in years during a raid in Jenin, resulting in seven Palestinian deaths. A subsequent attack by two Hamas gunmen near the settlement of Eli led to the death of four Israelis. A Palestinian man was later killed amid violent settler demonstrations in the town of Turmusaya.
Image Credit: Akivapath at English Wikipedia
