PPolitical and military officials of Israel sent mixed messages regarding the military action in Jenin. Some highlighted the operation, which began just after midnight on Monday, was limited in duration and scope. This is “not a war,” said an army spokeswoman for the FAZ on Tuesday afternoon. “We’ll go out again as soon as we’ve reached our goals.” That may still be the case during Tuesday or “within a day or two”.
Others placed the opposite emphasis in their statements. Yehuda Fox, the commander of the army’s central command, told journalists near Jenin on Monday evening that there was “a series of operations” in the area. “We will end this operation and we will come back in a few days or a week.” It was even unclear whether the full-scale invasion of Jenin, complete with drone and airstrikes, has a name of its own. Initially, the military spoke of Operation “House and Garden”. However, the army press staff later clarified that the operation had no name – apparently not wanting to give it undue importance.
Two goals for the operation
In fact, the question is what Israel can achieve by cracking down on armed groups in Jenin. Around 40,000 people live in the city in the north of the West Bank, more than 14,000 of them in the extremely densely populated refugee camp. There have been repeated Israeli military actions there for a year, even though the area is actually under the security sovereignty of the Palestinian Authority (PA). Even if these were more targeted operations with fewer troops than now, they often resulted in large numbers of dead and wounded – mostly armed fighters but also civilians.
The actions of the Israeli military are increasing popular bitterness and attracting local militias – further reducing the unpopular PA’s room for manoeuvre. That was evident on Monday night when Palestinian youths reportedly attacked a PA police station south of Jenin with Molotov cocktails. In turn, the Israeli military cites the powerlessness of the PA as the reason why it had to act in Jenin at all.
The Israeli side has repeatedly named two targets for the operation without a name. One thing is more general: Jenin has become “a safe haven” from the perspective of terrorists, said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday evening. Let’s put an end to that now. So it’s a deterrent effect. The military stated that the specific goal was to destroy “terrorist infrastructure”. In addition to “operations centers” for armed groups, the army says it has also raided weapons storage and production facilities, including in a mosque. Hundreds of people have been arrested and around a hundred are still in custody. At the same time, the army made a point of giving the impression that restrictions on civilians were limited. People could have left the camp further and gone to work, the army spokeswoman said. The fighting subsided during the night. The ten killed were fighters who shot at soldiers. “We see this as a great success.”
Suspension of all contacts with Israel
Meanwhile, about 3,000 people left the refugee camp late Monday evening fearing fighting. They were housed in schools and other places in Jenin. Others in the camp were virtually trapped due to the massive fighting. Some residents told media that they were reminded of the heavy fighting during the Second Intifada. There were about a hundred wounded, some seriously, among them civilians; Rescue workers could not get to them for hours. The water and electricity supply failed in parts of the city. António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations expressed “deep concern” and reiterated that “all military operations must be conducted in full respect of international humanitarian law”. A Guterres spokesman said attacks by armed drones in such a densely populated area were “unacceptable”.
After a crisis meeting on Monday evening, the PA leadership announced a series of measures, including the suspension of all contacts with Israel. President Mahmoud Abbas called the operation a “war crime”. The Islamist organizations Hamas and “Palestinian Islamic Jihad” were inflexible and announced retaliation. On Monday evening, a 14-year-old Palestinian stabbed a man in Bnei Brak. There was a car and knife attack in Tel Aviv on Tuesday afternoon; seven people were injured, three of them seriously. The perpetrator, a Palestinian from near Hebron, was shot dead by a first responder. Hamas immediately spoke of a “heroic act of revenge” for the military operation in Jenin. Israel’s Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said the incident showed the importance of arming more civilians.
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