Anti-terrorist operation ends
Israel’s army withdraws from Jenin
07/05/2023, 00:45 am
Barely two days after the start of its large-scale military operation, Israel’s army begins withdrawing troops from Jenin in the occupied West Bank. 30 terror suspects are in custody, the Palestinian side speaks of twelve dead. During the night an Israeli soldier is shot dead.
According to the Israeli army, it has initiated a withdrawal from the refugee camp in the city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank. The military announced that the first soldiers had left the city late in the evening. It is still unclear how long the withdrawal of all forces will last.
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, two more Palestinians were killed in the Israeli operation during the day, bringing the death toll to at least 12. On the Israeli side, a soldier was shot during the night. According to the army, the aim of the operation was to smash the “terrorist infrastructure” of Islamist extremists. According to Palestinian reports, fierce gun battles broke out with armed residents as the withdrawal began.
For some time now, the north of the West Bank has been the scene of repeated attacks on Israelis and violence by radical Jewish settlers against Palestinians. According to Palestinian sources, this was the most massive military operation in five years. According to its own statements, the army made six facilities for the production of explosives and three operations centers in Jenin unusable and destroyed hiding places of suspected terrorists. In addition, the emergency services had confiscated a large number of weapons. 30 suspects were arrested.
Around 3,000 of the 18,000 residents of the refugee camp fled the fighting. According to the Deputy Governor of Jenin, Kamal Abu al-Rub, they are to be housed in schools and other emergency shelters for the time being.
attack in Tel Aviv
Jenin is considered a stronghold of militant Palestinians and a retreat for assassins. In addition to Hamas, which rules in the Gaza Strip, the militant Palestinian organization Islamic Jihad and other groups have also gained massive influence there in recent years. They are mostly financed by Iran.
On Tuesday, a man from the West Bank, according to Israeli police, injured seven people in an assassination attempt with a car and then with a stabbing weapon in Tel Aviv before an armed passerby shot him dead. Tensions between Israelis and Palestinians had already intensified at the beginning of last year. Violence has increased again under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his coalition partners, some of whom are right-wing extremists. At least 188 Palestinian militants and civilians, 25 Israelis, one Ukrainian and one Italian have been killed since the beginning of the year alone, according to an AFP tally based on official sources.