The last Israeli troops pulled out of the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank on Wednesday morning after a two-day military operation involving some one thousand soldiers- the biggest military incursion into Palestinian areas of the West Bank in more than 20 years.
The withdrawal was accompanied by ferocious fighting with armed Palestinians near the city’s hospital. A soldier was killed, becoming the first Israeli causality of the operation. It is probable he was hit by friendly fire. A Palestinian gunman was also killed, bringing to 12 the number of Palestinian killed. Israel said all of the Palestinians killed were armed fighters. Islamic Jihad and Hamas claimed only five of the dead as members.
Some 3,000 residents who fled the refugee camp during the fighting returned to their homes on Wednesday. Together with residents who had been too scared to leave, they witnessed the scale of the destruction first hand. Some distraught residents said they had lost everything and others expressed concern that it may take years to rebuild the damaged homes, roads and infrastructure.
Thousands of residents poured on to the streets to participate in the funerals of those killed. Much of the anger was directed against the Palestinian Authority (PA) led by president Mahmoud Abbas, who some residents consider a collaborator with Israel.
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[ Jenin: a martyrs’ capital and a hornets’ nestOpens in new window ]
The PA – the body that exercises nominal governance over parts of the West Bank – described the two-day Israeli incursion an “open war against the residents of Jenin”, but for many who have been left homeless such declarations are little more than lip service.
At a funeral for 10 of the dead, three senior leaders of the PA were forced to leave after being confronted with a crowd of thousands, including dozens of gunmen, chanting “Get out! Get out!”
The Israeli military said the operation had struck a significant blow against the hotbed of militant activity in the West Bank.
The military said troops found and confiscated thousands of weapons and interrogated more than 300 suspects, 30 of whom were arrested. In addition, it said 14 apartments belonging to wanted men and “war rooms” were identified and destroyed, together with six explosives labs. The military said dozens of kilograms of chemicals to prepare improvised explosive devices were confiscated and six underground shafts were found.
Israel would like the PA to reassert its authority in Jenin and restore law and order, but such a scenario is unlikely. The Israeli military believes a strong and stable PA is in Israel’s interests but far-right members of prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s government view the PA as an enemy and are unwilling to make any political concessions or goodwill gestures to strengthen Mr Abbas.
One commentator described the Jenin operation as nothing more than an aspirin for a terminal disease. The six months of the current Netanyahu government has witnessed a significant spike in militant attacks, with Tuesday’s car ramming in Tel Aviv – nine people were injured and the attacker was shot and killed – being the latest example. The Jenin operation is unlikely to reverse this trend.
Defence minister Yoav Gallant warned on Wednesday that further operations in Jenin may be necessary.
“Any terrorist who returns to the Jenin camp will not recognise it. This is not the end of the story, and if necessary, we will take action there again,” he told reporters.
Hours after the troops pulled out of Jenin on Wednesday morning, Israeli planes attacked two sites in Gaza which it said was used for manufacturing weapons. The attack came after militants fired five rockets towards Israel. It was the first Israeli attack in Gaza since the end of the brief round of cross-border exchanges of fire with Islamic Jihad militants two months ago.
All five of the rockets fired at the city of Sderot and other Gaza periphery communities were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defence batteries.
