Smoke rises during an Israeli military raid of the militant stronghold of Jenin in the occupied West Bank, July 3, 2023. (PHOTO / AP)
JENIN, West Bank – Israeli forces hit the city of Jenin with drone strikes on Monday in one of the biggest West Bank operations in 20 years, killing at least eight Palestinians and involving hundreds of troops in sporadic gun battles that continued into the evening.
The Israeli military said its forces struck a building that served as a command center for fighters from the Jenin Brigades with what it called "precise" drone strikes using small payloads
Gunfire and explosions were heard throughout the day as clashes continued between Israeli troops and fighters from the Jenin Brigades, a unit made up of militant groups based in the city's crowded refugee camp.
"What is going on in the refugee camp is real war," said Palestinian ambulance driver Khaled Alahmad. "There were strikes from the sky targeting the camp, every time we drive in, around five to seven ambulances and we come back full of injured."
At times during the morning, at least six drones could be seen circling over the city and the adjoining camp, a densely packed area housing around 14,000 refugees in less than half a square kilometer.
The camp has been at the heart of an escalation of violence across the West Bank that has triggered mounting alarm from Washington to the Arab world, without so far opening the way to a resumption of political negotiations that have been stalled for almost a decade.
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For more than a year, army raids in cities such as Jenin have become routine, while there have been a series of deadly attacks by Palestinians against Israelis and rampages by Jewish settler mobs against Palestinian villages.
The Palestinian health ministry confirmed at least eight people had been killed and more than 50 wounded in Jenin, while another man was killed in Ramallah overnight, shot in the head at a checkpoint.
The Israeli military said its forces struck a building that served as a command center for fighters from the Jenin Brigades with what it called "precise" drone strikes using small payloads. It described the operation as an extensive counter-terrorism effort aimed at destroying infrastructure and disrupting militants from using the refugee camp as a base.
As the operation proceeded, Israeli armoured bulldozers ploughed up roads in the camp to dig up concealed improvised explosive devices, cutting water and electricity supplies, the Jenin municipality said as residents described soldiers breaking through the walls to pass from house to house.
"Nothing is safe in the camp. They dug up the roads with bulldozers. Why? What did the camp do?" said Hussein Zeidan, 67, as he recovered from his wounds in hospital.
An injured Palestinian is carried into a hospital during an Israeli military raid in the Jenin refugee camp, a militant stronghold in the occupied West Bank, July 3, 2023. (PHOTO / AP)
In Washington, the State Department said it was closely tracking the situation in Jenin. A State Department spokesperson said it was imperative that all possible precautions be taken to prevent the loss of civilian lives.
An Israeli military spokesman said the operation would last as long as needed and suggested forces could remain for an extended period. "It could take hours, but it could also take days. We are focused on our goals," he said.
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Until June 21, when it carried out a strike near Jenin, the Israeli military had not used drone strikes in the West Bank since 2006. But the growing scale of the violence and the pressure on ground forces meant such tactics may continue, a military spokesman said.
"We're really stretched," a spokesman told journalists. "It's because of the scale. And again, from our perception, this will minimize friction," he said, adding that the strikes were based on "precise intelligence".
International criticism
Monday's operation, involving a force described as "brigade-size" – suggesting around 1,000-2,000 troops – was intended to help "break the safe haven mindset of the camp, which has become a hornets nest," the spokesman said.
Its apparent scale underlined the importance of the Jenin camp in violence that has further exposed the impotence of the Palestinian Authority to impose its writ over towns in the West Bank, where it holds nominal governance powers.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he was suspending contacts with Israel and called for "international protection for our people". UN Middle East envoy Tor Wennesland said he was talking with all parties to de-escalate and ensure humanitarian access.
Wennesland tweeted that the current escalation in the occupied West Bank "is very dangerous" following months of mounting tensions.
The operation "once again reminds us of the extremely volatile and unpredictable situation across the occupied West Bank," he tweeted, urging that all must ensure the civilian population is protected.
UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Palestine Lynn Hastings expressed "alarm" in a tweet and stressed that "access to all injured must be ensured."
Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit on Monday condemned the Israeli military raid on Jenin and called on peace advocates across the world to intervene immediately and stop the Israeli "ominous and criminal" operation.
"The ongoing brutal Israeli military operation in Jenin is categorically slammed," Aboul-Gheit tweeted, noting that raiding cities and camps under air support as well as razing houses and roads are collective punishment and revenge that will only lead to further escalation of tension.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the United Arab Emirates on Monday also expressed strong condemnation against the Israeli forces.
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In a statement, it called for an immediate halt to repeated and escalating campaigns against the Palestinian people, urging Israeli authorities to reduce escalation and avoid steps that "exacerbate tension and violence in the occupied Palestinian territories and lead to a deterioration of the situation and perpetuation of the cycle of violence."
Palestinian protesters hold flags during a protest against the killing of Palestinians near the fence of the Gaza-Israel border, east of Gaza City, on July 3, 2023. (PHOTO / XINHUA)
In a statement, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry condemned on Monday "in the strongest terms" the Israeli raid, voicing opposition to the repeated Israeli raids and incursions into Palestinian cities that killed civilians.
Describing the Israeli attacks as a "flagrant violation of international laws and legitimacy", the ministry warned against the serious impacts of the ongoing escalation which it said would exacerbate the Palestinians' sufferings and undermine Egyptian, regional, and international efforts to de-escalate tensions in the occupied territories.
Jordan on Monday warned of the catastrophic consequences of the Israeli raid on Jenin, calling for the international community's intervention to stop Israel's military operations.
Türkiye also strongly condemned the Israeli military operation, urging Israel to act with common sense and stop such actions.
The Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants on Monday condemned the Israeli aggression, which it said "targets the entire population without distinction between civilians and combatants or between young people, children and the elderly."
The ministry called on the international community to pressure the "aggressor" to stop assaults and protect defenseless civilians.