Amid the Israeli military offensive in the West Bank, an attack in Tel Aviv has fueled fears of a further escalation of violence in the conflict. A Palestinian first rammed a car into passers-by and then attacked some with a knife, the police said on Tuesday, speaking of terrorism. Eight people were injured.
The perpetrator is a 20-year-old from the West Bank. He was shot dead by an armed civilian. The Palestinian Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack. The attacker belongs to Hamas and wanted to take revenge for the Israeli military operation in Jenin, which has been ongoing since Monday, the ruling group in the Gaza Strip said.
The Israeli offensive in Jenin continues. The attacks continued into Tuesday night. At least 11 people were killed and 100 others injured.
The Islamic Jihad group has identified four of those killed in the Israeli offensive as its fighters, while Hamas has identified a fifth. A representative of Islamic Jihad described the attack in Tel Aviv as the first “reaction of the resistance to what happened in Jenin”.
The Israeli army moved into the Palestinian city of Jenin on Monday night, beginning its first major offensive in about 20 years. According to their own statements, they confiscated weapons and explosives and arrested several suspects. The United Nations was “alarmed” by the large-scale military offensive in the city; above all about air raids on “densely populated residential areas”. This is “unacceptable,” said a spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres. He called on all parties to abide by international law. WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier criticized the fact that the Israeli army had temporarily prevented ambulances from reaching the injured in the refugee camp so that they could be treated.
End of the offensive in sight
Israel announced on Tuesday afternoon that the offensive could soon be over. The set goals have almost been achieved. The densely populated city and the associated refugee camp with around 17,000 residents are considered a stronghold of militant Palestinians. The militant groups in the city are said to be financed primarily by Iran, an archenemy of the State of Israel. “In recent months, Jenin has become a haven for terrorism, from which insidious attacks have been launched on Israeli men, women and children,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during an appearance on Monday evening. The aim is to eliminate all those “who want to destroy our country”.
Many shops remained closed in the West Bank and East Jerusalem on Tuesday. Several Palestinian organizations had called for a one-day general strike in protest against the violence and the military operation. Rallies were also planned. Palestinian media reported on Monday evening that the Israeli army had ordered Palestinians to leave the Jenin refugee camp. Footage online showed many people leaving their homes, some with their hands up. According to Israeli media reports, however, Israeli security officials denied that there had been an evacuation order. Accordingly, thousands of people fled the fighting.
Palestinian officials told AFP on Tuesday morning that around 3,000 people had already left the camp. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the situation for residents of Jenin is critical as electricity and water supplies have been damaged.
The camp west of the city center is mostly populated by Palestinians who fled the villages and towns that are now in Israel during the 1948 Israeli War of Independence. Her children and grandchildren were born in the refugee camp. A possible right for these refugees to return to their homes and land is one of the major unresolved issues of the Middle East conflict.
People walk down a street in Jenin refugee camp on July 4.
(Photo: RONALDO SCHEMIDT/AFP)
Abbas cuts off communication – at least temporarily
After a meeting of its leadership on Monday evening, the Palestinian Authority reiterated that it would no longer cooperate with Israel on security issues. The autonomy authority had made similar announcements on previous occasions – but they were not actually implemented, writes the dpa news agency. Both sides exchange intelligence to prevent terrorist attacks and coordinate major operations in zones controlled solely by the Palestinian Authority. It is also intended to prevent militant groups from gaining the upper hand in this area.
The security situation in Israel and the Palestinian territories has been tense for a long time, but violence has recently increased again. Since Benjamin Netanyahu’s new, partly far-right government took office, it has intensified its rhetoric towards the Palestinian side and has shown little interest in defusing the conflict – on the contrary. She also wants to massively expand settlement construction in the West Bank.
While Palestinians repeatedly carried out attacks on settlements or Israeli soldiers, radical Israeli settlers recently increasingly attacked Palestinian villages and set houses and shops on fire. Since the beginning of the year, more than two dozen people have died in attacks by Palestinians. During the same period, more than 140 Palestinians were killed in violent clashes, Israeli military operations, or after their own attacks.