2023-07-05 06:22:41
JENIN, West Bank (AP) — The Israeli army withdrew its troops from a militant stronghold in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, ending an intense two-day operation that killed at least 13 Palestinians, drove thousands of people from their houses and left a trail of destruction in its wake. An Israeli soldier was also killed.
The army claimed to have dealt a heavy blow to armed groups in the Jenin refugee camp, in an operation that involved several airstrikes and mobilizing hundreds of ground troops.
However, it was not yet clear if it would have long-term effects, following nearly a year and a half of heavy fighting in the West Bank.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised before the withdrawal that more such raids would be carried out if necessary.
“Right now we are completing the mission, and I can say that our extensive operation in Jenin is not a one-off,” he said during a visit to a military post outside Jenin. “We will eradicate terrorism wherever we see it, and we will attack it.”
It was one of the most intense Israeli military interventions in the West Bank since the end two decades ago of an armed Palestinian uprising once morest the indefinite Israeli occupation.
Since early 2022, Israel has carried out almost nightly incursions into the West Bank in response to a series of deadly Palestinian attacks. Israel claims the operations are intended to go following Palestinian militants and are necessary because the Palestinian Authority is too weak.
The Palestinians say that this violence is the inevitable result of 56 years of occupation and the lack of a political process with Israel. They also point to an increase in settlement construction in the West Bank and violence by extremist settlers.
Israel began attacking the camp, a known stronghold of Palestinian militants, on Monday morning, saying it intended to destroy and confiscate weapons.
Large military bulldozers rammed through the alleys, leaving extensive damage to streets and buildings, and thousands of residents fled to safety with relatives or to shelters. People reported power and water outages. The army said the bulldozers were needed because there were booby traps in the streets.
After the troops left on Wednesday morning, residents began to come out of their houses. They found streets littered with charred and crushed cars and piles of rubble.
The army said it had confiscated thousands of weapons, bomb-making materials and hidden money. The weapons were found in militant hideouts and civilian areas alike, in one case under a mosque, according to the army.
Troops withdrew hours following a Hamas militant drove his car into a crowded Tel Aviv bus stop and began stabbing people. Eight people were injured, including a pregnant woman who reportedly lost her baby. An armed witness killed the assailant. Hamas said the attack was revenge for the Israeli offensive.
On Wednesday morning, militants from Hamas-ruled Gaza fired five rockets at Israel. The shells were intercepted, according to Israel, which responded with airstrikes once morest various targets in Gaza.
During the Israeli raid, 13 Palestinians were killed and dozens injured, according to Palestinian health authorities. The Israeli army says it only killed militants, though it has given no details.
The massive raid followed more than a year of violence that has challenged Netanyahu’s far-right government, dominated by ultra-nationalists who have called for a tougher hand once morest Palestinian militants, only to see the fighting worsen.
Some 140 Palestinians have been killed so far this year in the West Bank, and Palestinian attacks on Israelis have claimed at least 25 lives, including four settlers in a gunfight last month.
The prolonged incursion prompted warnings from humanitarian groups that the situation was deteriorating.
Doctors Without Borders accused the army of firing tear gas at a hospital, filling the emergency room with smoke and forcing emergency patients to be treated in a lobby.
The United Nations human rights chief said the scale of the operation “raises a number of serious questions regarding international human rights norms and standards, including the protection of and respect for the right to life.”
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