The Israeli army launched an unprecedented military operation in almost two decades in the West Bank in the Jenin refugee camp early Monday morning, using airstrikes and the deployment of hundreds of soldiers. After weeks of pressure from the most radical part of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and the settler leaders, the armed forces attacked the camp from the air – practically nothing since the end of the Second Intifada in 2005 – and then with troops, armored vehicles and bulldozers penetrated. The Palestinian Ministry of Health has reported eight dead and at least 50 injured, ten of them in serious condition. Soldiers and militiamen clashed during the day in the nested camp, one of the strongholds of the Palestinian armed groups. Army spokesman Daniel Hagari stressed that it was “not an invasion” and expected it to last “a day or two”. The operation adds to the escalation of violence that the region has been experiencing for more than a year.
The Jenin City Council has given assurances that the water supply has been cut off due to infrastructure damage. The power grid also collapsed. The images show bulldozers pushing cars or trees. No tanks entered the field, although they were photographed in the area.
The Israeli army is depicting deployment in a “broad anti-terrorist operation” centered on the refugee camp, which is home to some 18,000 people and a new generation of more horizontally articulated fighters. “Jenin has become a haven for terrorism in recent months and we are putting an end to it,” Prime Minister Netanyahu said.
In a video conference with journalists, the army’s international spokesman, Richard Hecht, estimated the number of deployed soldiers to be the equivalent of a brigade; that is between 1,000 and 2,000. “Our goal is to break the mentality of launching an attack and then getting back into the field,” as has been the case with most attacks against Israelis so far this year, he added. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant has indicated that the operation is “progressing as planned,” and Secretary of State Eli Cohen said the goal is “to focus on Jenin” rather than other parts of the West Bank, which is occupied by Israel. militarily since the Six Day War in 1967.
An injured man was taken to the hospital on Monday. Nasser Nasser (AP)
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“What is happening in the refugee camp is a real war,” Khaled Al Ahmad, an ambulance driver at the scene, told Portal. “There are air raids on the camp and every time we leave with five to seven ambulances, we come back full of wounded.”
Camp residents speak of a dozen airstrikes. The last one, around a mosque. The images show some fires caused by these attacks, but others were caused by local residents themselves burning tires, making aerial images difficult to capture. The loudspeakers in the mosques appealed to the militiamen to oppose the troops.
The Israeli military spokesman explained that the first offensive this morning surprised them even though they had expected an attack. According to the Israeli army, one of the targets bombed was a “joint operations center” where the militants coordinated and stockpiled explosives.
There is also a ninth Palestinian dead at one of the impromptu solidarity demonstrations taking place in other West Bank cities as the news broke.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has announced the suspension of security coordination with Israel, which he has done in the past without implementing. His State Department issued a statement calling for “urgent international and American intervention to stop the aggression,” which it “strongly condemned” and blamed “entirely and directly on the Israeli government” for its effects.
Despite the scale of the crackdown, Hamas political leader Ismail Haniye has not issued any clear threats. He assured that “the blood spilled in Jenin will determine the next phase in all directions and axes,” while Islamic Jihad has warned that “all options” exist [de respuesta] are on the table” and “the Israeli attack will not achieve its objective”.
“Resolute action”
The defense minister has indicated that Israel will take a “proactive and determined approach to countering terrorism.” “We are closely monitoring the actions of our enemies and the Israeli security forces are prepared for any possibility,” he said of a possible response from Gaza by launching rockets or from other points in the West Bank or border countries. The army has stepped up deployment of its missile defense systems around the Gaza Strip, which is ruled by the Islamist Hamas movement. A concert in the city of Sderot, very close to Gaza, was also suspended.
For nearly 20 years, Israel had been using military drones in the West Bank solely for surveillance until June 21, when it killed three Palestinian militants near Jenin after Hamas’ armed wing attacked a Jewish settlement. The Jenin camp was dead during the Second Intifada in 2002 Scene of an infamous raid that killed 52 Palestinians and 23 Israeli soldiers after 10 days of fighting.
Israeli armored vehicles this Monday in the West Bank city of Jenin. JAAFAR ASHTIYEH (AFP)
The city has recently been the target of frequent Israeli attacks, albeit on a smaller scale. The incident two weeks ago, in which seven Palestinians were killed, seems to have marked a turning point. A booby-trapped explosive damaged an Israeli armored vehicle in an ambush. The soldiers inside were injured and a helicopter opened fire to encourage the evacuation of troops, in an unprecedented move in the West Bank for nearly two decades. The conclusion of the country with the most right-wing government in its history was that the explosives – more advanced than the previous ones – showed the need to go one step further. “It is time to replace pincer operations with broader operations to root out terrorist hotspots in northern Samaria. [nombre oficial israelí de la zona] and restore deterrence and security,” tweeted his finance minister, far-right Bezalel Smotrich. The leaders of the main opposition parties, Yair Lapid and Benny Gantz, expressed their support for the operation on Monday.
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