There have been Israeli drone attacks and clashes between Israeli military and Palestinian militants in Jenin following the start of a significant military operation by Israel in the occupied West Bank.
According to health officials, 50 people have suffered injuries, and 8 Palestinians have lost their lives. Israel asserted, “We have dealt a heavy blow to terrorist organisations in Jenin.” The Palestinians accused it of war crimes.
Jenin has seen many Israeli raids in the past year and residents have been linked to multiple attacks on Israelis. The military said there was no specific timeline for ending the operation, but security sources told Israeli media that it might last several days.
In 2002, during the second Palestinian intifada, Israeli forces launched a full-scale incursion in Jenin. At least 52 Palestinian militants and civilians and 23 Israeli soldiers were killed during 10 days of intense fighting. The current Israeli military operation, which appears to be one of the most extensive in the West Bank in years, began in the early hours of Monday.
They employed a drone to launch an attack on an apartment located in the center of Jenin’s refugee camp, a densely populated area with approximately 14,000 residents crammed into less than half a square kilometer.
According to the military, the apartment served as a “joint operational command center”. It was for the camp and the Jenin Brigades. The Jenin Brigades are a unit composed of various Palestinian militant groups, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
Further air strikes utilized drones. This is while thousands of Israeli troops were deployed in what a military spokesman described as a “counter-terrorism operation.” The operation focused on seizing weapons and preventing Jenin from serving as a “safe haven” for Palestinian fighters.
