Israel’s defense minister said Wednesday that forces are applying lessons learned in Gaza as a major operation continues in Jenin, aimed at countering Iranian-backed militant groups in the volatile West Bank city. is
A military spokesman declined to give details but said the operation was “relatively similar” but in a smaller area than last August, in which hundreds of Israeli soldiers, aided by drones and helicopters, targeted the occupied West Bank’s Jenin and Raid other flashpoint cities.
It was the third major incursion by the Israeli military into Jenin in less than two years, a longtime stronghold of militant groups including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which said its forces were fighting Israeli troops. are fighting
Residents reported continued gunfire and explosions, and Palestinian health services reported at least four wounded after 10 people were killed a day earlier.
Israeli army spokesman Nadav Shoshani said the militants’ increased use of roadside bombs and other improvised explosive devices was a particular focus of the operation, which saw armored vehicles tear up roads in refugee camps adjacent to the city. Bulldozers were involved.
As the operation continued, many Palestinians left their homes in the camp, a crowded settlement for the descendants of Palestinians who fled or were expelled from their homes in the 1948 war surrounding the creation of Israel.
“Thank God, we were at home, we went out and asked the ambulance to take us out,” said one woman, who gave her name as Umm Mohammed.
Ahead of the raid, which came two weeks ago after Israel opened fire on gunmen in Jenin, roadblocks and checkpoints were set up in the West Bank in an effort to slow movement across the region. were
As the raid began, following a week-long operation by Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces to try to regain control of the refugee camp, dominated by Palestinian factions opposed to the PA, which exercise limited rule in some parts. West Bank.
The action comes just two days after the start of a cease-fire agreement in Gaza and the exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, while Israeli troops have begun withdrawing from their positions in several areas of the enclave.
On Wednesday, the army said troops in several areas of Gaza arrested several armed suspects it said were a threat and fired warning shots at masked men who approached them. He called on Palestinians to avoid approaching the soldiers.
“The IDF is committed to fully upholding the terms of the agreement for the return of the hostages,” it said in a statement, adding that it was prepared for any scenario and to contain the threats. will take “all necessary steps” to
Defense Minister Israel Katz said the Jenin raid marked a change in the army’s security plan in the West Bank and was “the first lesson from the method of repeated raids in Gaza.”
“We will not allow the Iranian regime and the weapons of radical Sunni Islam to put people’s lives at risk. [Israeli] Settlers [in the West Bank] and establish a terrorist front east of the State of Israel,” he said in a statement.
Israel’s campaign in Gaza After the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel by bands of Hamas-led gunmen, a 15-month bombardment has destroyed much of the coastal enclave. The military has said it has refined its civilian warfare tactics in light of its experience in Gaza, but Shoshani declined to provide details on how such lessons are being applied in Jenin.
Israel considers Palestinian militant groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which are backed by Iran, to be part of a multi-front war fought by an axis that includes Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.
Newly installed US President Donald Trump has appointed a series of senior officials with close ties to the settler movement, and his return to the White House has been welcomed by hardline pro-settler ministers who have settled in the West Bank. Kari building is committed to expansion.
About 700,000 Israeli settlers live among 2.7 million Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, land Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East War. Most countries consider Israeli settlements on war-torn land illegal. Israel disputes this, citing historical and biblical ties to the land.
