In a significant escalation of tensions, the Israeli army has initiated a major military operation in the Jenin Camp located in the occupied West Bank. In the early hours of Monday, they carried out a second drone attack in less than two weeks, resulting in the deaths of at least five individuals and leaving over 20 wounded, as the Palestinian Health Ministry reported.
The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), in a statement posted to Telegram, said that the Jenin Camp is a terrorist infrastructure and it has launched an extensive counter-terrorism effort in the camp and around the city of Jenin. Residents in the area said that the IDF launched around ten airstrikes and also a military ground operation surrounding the camp from all sides.
Image Source: Associated Press
The Jenin refugee camp is home to more than 10,000 Palestinian refugees (11,674, according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics) who fled their homes in the aftermath of the 1948 Palestine War. According to IDF, the northern occupied West Bank camp is a hideout for terrorists who harm civilians. IDF considers the city of Jenin a hotbed of terrorism.
Brigade-Level Raid, Not Occupation
IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told reporters that the operation was a brigade-level raid and was not aimed at occupying the refugee camp, nor was it against the Palestinian authority. Instead, the operation targeted the Jenin Battalion, a Palestinian militant group consisting of armed individuals affiliated with Palestinian factions such as Fatah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad.
The airstrike was executed against the joint war room shared by the Jenin Batallion and other militant groups in the city, which “served as an observation post, a gathering place for armed terrorists before and after terror acts, a cache for munitions and bombs and a communications center.” IDF also said the camp was a “site for weapons and explosives.”
Escalation of Violence in the West Bank
Image Source: Reuters
The Israel-Palestine conflict has entered a more violent era in the past months, with the Netanyahu government insistent on striking against the militant groups in Palestine. Today’s airstrike comes after weeks of speculation that the IDF might carry out an operation in the West Bank. It came amid the first Israeli attack on June 19 using helicopter gunships since 2006, killing at least six Palestinians.
Palestinian Militant Forces Vow to Respond Against Israeli Army Attack
The Jenin Brigades and the Gaza-based Palestinian Islamic Jihad said they are ready to strike against Israel in response to the aggression and will face the enemy with all possible retaliation options. While the Palestinian Authority’s foreign ministry condemned the Israeli attack as a “barbaric aggression of occupation” against the Palestinians in Jenin and its camp, and the IDF targeted “defenceless civilians”.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh responded to the attack by stating, “The blood spilled in Jenin will determine the next stage, on all potential paths. Our people and their resistance are able to respond to this barbaric aggression.”
In an unrelated incident, a 21-year-old man was shot dead by the Israeli army at the entrance to the city of al-Bireh near Ramallah in the West Bank, said the Palestinian Ministry of Health
The use of advanced military weaponry in Jenin and the deadly counterattacks by Palestinian militant groups from the start of 2024, has killed at least 181 Palestinians and 25 Israelis, according to the French news agency AFP.
