Israel has launched a major operation in the West Bank, according to Benjamin Netanyahu.Israel has launched a “large-scale” military operation in the West Bank just days after implementing a ceasefire in Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “Under the direction of the Political-Security Cabinet, the IDF, Shin Bet, and the Israel Police today launched a large-scale and significant military operation to eradicate terrorism in Jenin – ‘Iron Wall’.”This is another step towards achieving the goal we set – strengthening security in Judea and Samaria. We are acting systematically and resolutely against the Iranian axis wherever it extends its arms – in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Judea and Samaria – and with our hands still outstretched.”A military source cited by The Times of Israel says the operation began with a number of drone strikes on infrastructure used by terror groups in Jenin, a city in the State of Palestine in the Israel-occupied West Bank.Large numbers of soldiers, including special forces, Shin Bet agents, and Border Police officers are now reportedly operating there.According to Palestinian media, Israeli military vehicles moved into the city and its refugee camp on Tuesday morning, as per BBC News.At least six Palestinians have been killed and dozens have been wounded in the raid, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
Before the Israeli operation was launched, Palestinian security forces had been conducting one of their own to reassert control over Janin, from which various armed groups are reported to operate, as per Al Jazeera.Middle East Eye reports that Palestinian Authority security forces, who have been besieging and attacking Jenin since early last month, pulled out of the city shortly before Israel’s offensive beganIsrael’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has said the raid in Jenin is designed to “change the security situation” in the occupied areas of the West Bank.In a post on X, Smotrich said it will be “an intense and ongoing operation”, targetting “terror elements and their enablers” with the aim of protecting Israeli “settlers” and “settlements”, which he said are a “security buffer” for Israel, Al Jazeera reports.
Israel has constructed some 160 settlements housing around 700,000 Jews since since its occupation of West Bank in the 1967 Middle East war.
These settlements are considered illegal under international law, though this is disputed by Israel, as per BBC News.
Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem the late 60s conflict, but Palestinians continue to seek an independent state encompassing all three territories.The latest operation came just days into a fragile ceasefire with Hamas in Gaza that is supposed to last for six weeks and see 33 militant-held hostages released in return for hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Three hostages and 90 prisoners were released on Sunday, when it took effect.
The ceasefire does not apply to the West Bank, which has seen a surge of violence since the start of the war. Israeli troops have carried out near-daily raids that often ignite gunbattles, the Associated Press reports.The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel from Gaza, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting another 250. More than 90 captives are still being held in Gaza, around a third of whom are believed to be dead, as per AP.
Israel’s military campaign has killed over 47,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to local health authorities, who say women and children make up more than half of the fatalities but do not say how many of the dead were fighter
s.