Jerusalem (EFE)
“As part of an extensive counter-terrorism effort in Judea and Samaria (West Bank), security forces attacked an operations center, which served as the joint operational command center of the Jenin Brigade in the Jenin refugee camp,” the official reported. israeli army.
Three dead and 25 injured
The operation in Jenin has so far left 3 Palestinians dead and 25 injured, confirmed the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The Israeli offensive by air and by land prioritized that command center of the Jenin Brigade – which brings together all the militias of all the factions to fight the Israeli troops together -, which was also used as an “advanced observation and reconnaissance center , a place where terrorists met before and after terrorist activities, a site for weapons and explosives, and as a coordination and communication center,” explained a military spokesman.
“In addition, the command center provided shelter to wanted persons involved in carrying out terror attacks in recent months in the area,” he added of the operation in Jenin, where Israeli troops have focused most of their military raids on the West Bank in the last year and a half.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant congratulated the security forces for the operation and assured that they are “preparing for each scenario” while “closely observing the actions of the enemies.”
“In the face of terrorism, we will take a proactive and decisive approach. Anyone who harms the citizens of Israel will pay a heavy price,” Gallant said of the operation that comes after weeks of speculation about whether or not Israel would launch a full-scale military campaign in the West Bank in the face of increased violence.
In an incursion two weeks ago in Jenin – which lasted 9 hours and left 7 Palestinians dead – the Army used combat helicopters for the first time since the Second Intifada; and three days later it launched the first drone air strike on that territory since 2006, precisely for the “selective assassination” of three militiamen from the Jenin Brigade who were in a car.
The biggest spike in violence in the West Bank since the Second Intifada
Between the two episodes, two Hamas members carried out an attack on the settlement of Eli, in the north of the occupied West Bank, in which four settlers were killed, which followed days of settler attacks on Palestinian villages that left extensive damage and one death; further raising the tension in the area and the voices in favor of a large-scale military operation, especially on the extreme right.
The West Bank is experiencing its highest peak of violence since the Second Intifada (2000-2005) and so far this year, 142 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict, most of them militants in armed clashes with Israeli troops, but also civilians, including 23 minors.
In parallel, the area has seen the proliferation of new Palestinian armed groups, which carry out more and more attacks and have left 25 dead on the Israeli side, most of them settlers and five of them minors.