Wednesday, August 28, 2024, 12:25 PM
At least nine people have been killed in a military operation carried out by the Israeli army on Wednesday in the north of the West Bank. The Defence Forces recognise that it is a large-scale incursion and that its objective is to dismantle terrorist networks. On the other hand, the Hamas and Al Fatah militias, which have a presence in part of this territory, accuse the Hebrew State of initiating a military occupation similar to that of Gaza.
His version is supported by a statement by Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz, who has called for dealing with this “threat in the same way as the terrorist infrastructure in Gaza.” Katz claims that Iran is bringing in weapons and financing the activity of these cells in order to establish “a new front,” similar to that of Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon. He also calls for the “temporary evacuation of Palestinian residents” from the West Bank. Katz is known for his harsh statements, has a very decisive weight within the ruling party, the Likud, and is known for his full support for the Israeli settlers in the West Bank.
The military operation began early this morning and continues in the morning. The Defence Forces have mobilised hundreds of troops and are using helicopter gunships, combat drones and armoured vehicles. An engineering brigade leads a group of bulldozers that clears the way for the soldiers, in a scene very similar to the start of the Israeli incursion into Gaza ten months ago.
Troops have raided the refugee camps in Jenin and Tubas, as well as the central areas of Nublus and Tulkarem. The Red Crescent reported that six Palestinians were killed in the two camps. Three others were killed in a military drone attack on a car in Seir. At least eleven people have been injured in the fighting and shelling.
In total, some 650 Palestinians, mostly civilians and more than 100 of them children, have been killed in clashes with the Israeli army or in settler attacks in the West Bank since the occupation of Gaza began last October. Another 22 Israelis have died in armed actions and stabbings carried out in this territory by Palestinian activists, especially in areas close to the border.
Wednesday’s raid precedes another on Monday in Nur Shams, where the IDF killed five “terrorists” who the Israeli government said were inside an operations room planning attacks against Israeli units. Among the victims was Hassam Ismail Jibril, who was released in the exchange of Palestinian prisoners for Israeli hostages agreed on November 28, 2023. Jibril had returned to Hamas and was believed to be involved in some terrorist actions in Tulkarem and Qalqilya.
The army also identified among the dead Mohamed Qarawi and Muhammad Yussef, members of an extremist cell in Nur Shams, and Adnan Jaber, an explosives maker. Military sources say that Wednesday’s operation is aimed at dismantling militants from pro-Iranian groups, including Islamic Jihad, who are engaged in placing roadside bombs to detonate as Israeli convoys pass by.
Return of Abu Abbas
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has cut short his state visit to Saudi Arabia and is returning to the West Bank urgently. His spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, has warned that the Israeli army’s incursion will have “dangerous consequences.” “Everyone will pay a price,” says Abbas’s office, which considers the offensive to be “the continuation of an all-out war against our people, our land and our holy sites.”
Abbas arrived in Riyadh on Monday. He met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman the next day, and was due to travel to Egypt on Wednesday, along with Qatar, the region’s main mediator for a ceasefire in Gaza. The Palestinian president has called on US President Joe Biden to put pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop the attacks.
Meanwhile, four more people have been killed in Syria, just a few kilometres from the Lebanese border, in an attack on a vehicle that Israeli sources say could be a truck loaded with rockets. According to this version, one member of Hezbollah and three from Islamic Jihad are believed to be killed. A report by The Times of Israel reveals that this pro-Iranian group has begun sending fighters to Hezbollah factions in Lebanon to reinforce its offensive against the Hebrew state.
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