Israel strikes Jenin in West Bank; Palestinians say at least 3 killed
Listen 2 min Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share
JERUSALEM -- Israel launched extensive air and ground attacks in Jenin early Monday, striking what it called the “operational command center” of Jenin Brigade militants and marking an escalation in the occupied West Bank city that is a center for armed Palestinian resistance. Are you on Telegram? Subscribe to our channel for the latest updates on Russia’s war in Ukraine. ArrowRight The lethal assaults, part an “extensive counterterrorism effort” centered on a densely populated Jenin refugee camp, were ongoing Monday. The Palestinian Health Ministry said that three people were killed in the strike and 25 injured. The Israel Defense Forces said the operation killed at least seven targeted individuals.
“We’ll do it as long as it is needed; there is no timeline on this right now," IDF spokesman Lt. Col Richard Hecht told reporters.
Gunfire, drones and explosions were heard in Jenin, Reuters reported, adding that Jenin Brigade militants said they were engaging with Israeli forces.
Advertisement
“Most of the terror attacks against Israelis originated from Jenin,” the Israeli ambassador to the United States, Michael Herzog, wrote on Twitter after the strike, adding that the camp had become an Iranian stronghold in the past two years.
Islamic Jihad, a Tehran-backed militant group that Western nations regard as a terrorist organization, said in a statement that it would not be deterred by the strikes. “Jenin will not surrender,” said the organization, which has a following in the city.
The refugee camp in the northern West Bank was set up in the 1950s and has been the target of frequent deadly raids by the IDF, which says it is responding to attacks on civilians inside Israel that were planned in Jenin. The standoff has raised fears about a return to the bloody guerrilla warfare of two decades ago that killed thousands in the region.
Jenin has one of the highest rates of unemployment and poverty among refugee camps in the West Bank, according to the United Nations. Thousands of residents of the camp are on Israeli watchlists, making them ineligible for work permits.
Advertisement
2023 has been a particularly deadly year in Israel and the occupied territories. Nearly half of the roughly 140 Palestinians killed by Israel in the West Bank between Jan. 1 and late June were affiliated with militant groups, the Associated Press reported. But in several instances, children have been killed as Israeli security forces adopt increasingly aggressive tactics. In March, a 14-year-old boy was killed during a raid in central Jenin, according to a Washington Post investigation. In June, a 15-year-old girl was killed in another raid.
At least 23 Israelis have been killed by Palestinians as of June, according to a Washington Post tally of media reports and Israeli government figures.
Gift this article Gift Article
Source: The Washington Post
