Middle East Conflict
Israel withdraws soldiers: Operation in Jenin ended
Israel began a major military operation in the West Bank on Monday night. photo
© Majdi Mohammed/AP/dpa
Israel ends a major and controversial military operation in the occupied West Bank. Israel has probably not come any closer to a lasting solution to the conflict with the Palestinians.
Israel’s military has its largest deployment in West Bank officially ended for 20 years. All soldiers have been withdrawn from the city of Jenin, the military is now returning to its “routine activities” in the West Bank, the army said.
Many residents of Jenin returned to their homes. The civil defense is looking for explosive remnants of the operation and is checking houses and roads for damage, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.
“Fight Against Terror”
During the operation, “terrorist infrastructure” was destroyed and more than 300 suspects were arrested, the Israeli broadcaster Kan reported, citing a military spokesman. Some “terrorists” were therefore able to escape. The “fight against terror” is not over yet.
Israel’s army moved into Jenin on Monday after airstrikes with around a thousand soldiers. There they exchanged fierce gunfire with armed Palestinians. According to media reports, there were also fierce firefights during their withdrawal at night. It was the largest military operation in the occupied West Bank in two decades. One soldier died on the Israeli side, at least twelve Palestinians were killed and more than 100 injured on the other side. According to the military, the dead are said to be armed fighters. During the operation, command centers, arms depots and arms production sites belonging to militant Palestinians were destroyed.
Jenin is considered a stronghold of militant Palestinians. The various groups are financed primarily by Iran, an archenemy of the State of Israel. Around 50,000 people live in the densely populated place, a third of them in a refugee camp.
Observers doubt that the recent military operation there will contribute to a lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Thanks to the operation, individual fighters could be eliminated, said Tamir Hajman, head of the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University. “But only political action will ensure long-term stability.”
Rockets from the Gaza Strip
Rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip towards Israel for the first time since May. They were intercepted, according to Israeli forces. Multiple explosions were heard in the area, believed to have been triggered by the Iron Dome missile defense system. No one initially claimed responsibility for the attacks. Israel’s army responded with airstrikes on the sealed off coastal area. An underground weapons production facility and a Hamas rocket factory were hit, it said.
The extremist Palestinian organization has ruled the Gaza Strip since taking power by force in 2007 and denies the State of Israel the right to exist. More than two million people live in very poor conditions in the strictly sealed off coastal area.
A Palestinian attacker injured at least seven people in an attack in Tel Aviv on Tuesday. Hamas spoke of an “initial reaction” to the events in Jenin.