Israel withdraws its forces from Jenin

The Israeli army withdrew its forces from Jenin, the stronghold of militants in the occupied West Bank, today, Wednesday, ending violent clashes. Two-day process As a result, at least 13 Palestinians were killed, thousands were displaced from their homes, and a trail of destruction was left behind. An Israeli soldier was also killed.

The army said it had inflicted heavy damage on armed groups in the Jenin refugee camp in an operation that included a series of airstrikes and hundreds of ground forces. But it is unclear if there are any lasting effects after nearly a year and a half of intense fighting in the West Bank.

Before his retirement, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu He promised to carry out similar operations if necessary. “Currently we are completing the mission, and I can say that our major operation in Jenin is not a one-off,” he said during a visit to a military site on the outskirts of Jenin. We will eliminate terrorism wherever we see it and strike it.”

Jenin was raided One of the fiercest Israeli military operations in the West Bank Since the armed Palestinian uprising, the second intifada, against the Israeli occupation that has lasted since 1967 and ended two decades ago.

Since early 2022, Israel has carried out near-daily raids in the West Bank in response to a series of deadly Palestinian attacks. He says the raids are aimed at suppressing Palestinian activists and said they are necessary because the Palestinian Authority is so weak. Palestinians say such violence is an inevitable result of 56 years of occupation and the absence of any political process with Israel. They also point to increased settlement building in the West Bank and violence by extremist settlers.

Israel bombed the camp, an old stronghold of Palestinian militants, early Monday, in an operation the army said was aimed at destroying and confiscating weapons.