Aftermath of car-ramming that injured several Tel Aviv
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Benjamin Netanyahu has warned of another deadly raid on Jenin as Israel withdrew its troops following the most intense military operation in the occupied territory in nearly two decades.
The Israeli military confirmed it had withdrawn troops from the militant stronghold in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, ending an intense two-day operation that killed at least 12 Palestinians and an Israeli soldier, and drove thousands of people from their homes.
Ahead of the withdrawal, the Israeli Prime Minister vowed to carry out similar operations if needed, saying the raid “is not a one-off”.
“At these moments we are completing the mission, and I can say that our extensive operation in Jenin is not a one-off,” he said during a visit to a military post on the outskirts of Jenin. “We will eradicate terrorism wherever we see it and we will strike at it.”
This comes after Israeli forces launched air strikes on the northern part of the Gaza Strip on Wednesday morning after it said rockets were fired towards Israel from the same area.
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1688558250Is it safe to travel to Israel?
Israel launched a major raid on a Jenin refugee camp – a Palestinian militant stronghold in the Israeli-occupied West Bank – on 3 July, killing at least a dozen Palestinians in clashes with gunmen.
On Tuesday (4 July), a suspected Palestinian car-ramming and stabbing attack injured at least eight people in Tel Aviv.
While the Israeli military has confirmed it had withdrawn troops from the West Bank, ending an intense two-day operation that has driven thousands of people from their homes, Israeli forces launched air strikes on the northern part of the Gaza Strip on Wednesday morning (5 July) after saying that rockets were fired towards Israel from the same area.
Is it still safe to travel to Israel amid the escalating unrest? Ben Parker explains the key questions and answers:
Tara Cobham5 July 2023 12:57
1688556017Israeli PM Netanyahu warns of another deadly raid on Jenin
Benjamin Netanyahu has warned of another deadly raid on Jenin as Israel withdrew its troops following the most intense military operation in the occupied territory in nearly two decades.
The Israeli military confirmed it had withdrawn troops from the militant stronghold in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, ending an intense two-day operation that killed at least 12 Palestinians and an Israeli soldier, and drove thousands of people from their homes.
Ahead of the withdrawal, the Israeli Prime Minister vowed to carry out similar operations if needed, saying the raid “is not a one-off”.
“At these moments we are completing the mission, and I can say that our extensive operation in Jenin is not a one-off,” he said during a visit to a military post on the outskirts of Jenin. “We will eradicate terrorism wherever we see it and we will strike at it.”
This comes after Israeli forces launched air strikes on the northern part of the Gaza Strip on Wednesday morning after it said rockets were fired towards Israel from the same area.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives for a briefing near the Salem military post between Israel and the West Bank on Tuesday
(AP)
Tara Cobham5 July 2023 12:20
1688554217Watch: CCTV shows rockets being launched from Gaza Strip as Israeli troops leave camp
CCTV from a bar in Sderot, Israel, captures the moment rockets were fired and then shot down by air defences on Tuesday, 4 July, as Israeli troops began to withdraw from the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank according to security officials.
Israel’s army said militants in the Gaza Strip launched five rockets, which were intercepted, into Israel.
Troops withdrew from the camp after an intense two-day operation that killed at least 13 Palestinians and one Israeli soldier and drove thousands from their homes.
One Israeli soldier was also killed.
Residents of Jenin said the Israeli army had left the camp just after midnight on Wednesday.
Jenin: CCTV shows rockets being launched from Gaza Strip as Israeli troops leave camp
CCTV from a bar in Sderot, Israel, captures the moment rockets were fired and then shot down by air defences on Tuesday, 4 July, as Israeli troops began to withdraw from the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank according to security officials. Israel’s army said militants in the Gaza Strip launched five rockets, which were intercepted, into Israel. Troops withdrew from the camp after an intense two-day operation that killed at least 13 Palestinians and one Israeli soldier and drove thousands from their homes. One Israeli soldier was also killed. Residents of Jenin said the Israeli army had left the camp just after midnight on Wednesday.
Tara Cobham5 July 2023 11:50
1688552362‘Glass from windows is everywhere,’ says Jenin resident
Residents of the Jenin refugee camp emerged from their homes to find alleys lined by piles of rubble and flattened or scorched cars. Shopkeepers and bulldozers started clearing the debris. Thousands who had fled the fighting began returning.
Kefah Dabayyah, a 33-year-old Jenin refugee camp resident, said that he and his family had returned Wednesday to find widespread destruction.
“Roads were destroyed and many houses were affected, glass from windows was everywhere,” he said. His home was not hit, but there is neither water, nor electricity or internet.
Tara Cobham5 July 2023 11:19
1688548828Scenes from Jenin eerily similar to major Israeli incursion two decades ago
Some of the scenes from Jenin, including massive army bulldozers tearing through camp alleys, were eerily similar to those from the major Israeli incursion in 2002 which lasted for eight days and became known as the battle of Jenin.
Both operations, two decades apart, were meant to crush militant groups in the camp and deter and prevent attacks on Israelis. In each case, the army claimed success.
However, the continued cycle of army raids and Palestinian attacks raised new questions about Israel’s tactics. This week’s raid had wide support across Israel’s political spectrum, but some critics in Israel argued its impact is short-lived, with the slain gunmen quickly replaced by others.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose government administers parts of the West Bank, has rejected violence against Israelis, but has effectively lost control over several strongholds of gunmen.
Many Palestinians see the actions of the gunmen as an inevitable result of 56 years of occupation and the absence of any political process with Israel. They also point to increased West Bank settlement construction and violence by extremist settlers.
Tara Cobham5 July 2023 10:20
1688547088Palestinians defiant amid damage after Israel ends Jenin raid
Palestinians returned to the scarred streets of Jenin on Wednesday after Israel ended an unusually intense 48-hour raid, some of them preparing heroes’ funerals for the dead while others set about repairing the 75-year-old refugee camp.
Paving had been churned up by armoured bulldozers, causing a water pipe to burst and leaving sodden gullies of rubble that residents – many of whom had holed up at home, or evacuated as a precaution – traversed with a grim and businesslike gait.
After months of spiralling skirmishes with Jenin’s gunmen, Israel on Monday swamped the city’s refugee camp with hundreds of commandos backed by combat drones. Commanders said the operation – dubbed “Home and Garden” – aimed to root out Palestinian militant infrastructure.
“They did not get what they wanted, thank God. The youths are fine, the families are fine and the camp is fine,” Mutasem Estatia, a father of six, told Reuters after what he described as two nights being kept away, one of them in Israeli detention.
Twelve Palestinian men or male teenagers were killed, five of them confirmed fighters from the Hamas or Islamic Jihad factions. Scores of Palestinians were wounded. The army – which lost a soldier in the clashes – said it killed combatants only.
Israeli forces also detained around 150 suspected militants and destroyed caches of guns and roadside mines – including an arsenal under a mosque – and a command centre, the army said.
“There are 12 martyrs and we are proud of them, but we expected more damage given the raid’s scale,” Estatia said.
Israel appeared poised to return to Jenin and other areas of the occupied West Bank, where Palestinians seek statehood.
“I’ve made clear that this broad action in Jenin is not a one-off,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Channel 14 TV on Monday. “It will be the beginning of regular incursions and continuous control of the territory and that’s why there’ll be no safe haven for terrorism.”
Tara Cobham5 July 2023 09:51
1688544972WATCH: CCTV shows rockets being launched from Gaza Strip as Israeli troops leave camp
Jenin: CCTV shows rockets being launched from Gaza Strip as Israeli troops leave camp
Tara Cobham5 July 2023 09:16
1688541023At least 13 Palestinians and one Israeli soldier killed in operation
At least 13 Palestinians and one Israeli soldier were killed in the operation in the Jenin refugee camp, security officials said.
Israeli troops have withdrawn from a militant stronghold in the West Bank after a two-day raid, the military has confirmed.
The army claimed to have inflicted heavy damage on militant groups in an operation that included a series of airstrikes and hundreds of ground troops.
They also said five rockets launched by militants in the Gaza Strip into Israel had been intercepted as tensions remained high.
Hamas said an earlier attack by a Hamas militant who rammed his car into a crowded Tel Aviv bus stop and began stabbing people, wounding eight, including a pregnant woman was revenge for the Israeli offensive. The attacker was killed by an armed bystander.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to carry out similar offensives in the future.
He said: “At these moments we are completing the mission, and I can say that our extensive operation in Jenin is not a one-off. We will eradicate terrorism wherever we see it and we will strike at it.”
Tara Cobham5 July 2023 08:10
1688538717Watch live: Inside Jenin refugee camp after Israeli military operation
Watch a live view from inside Jenin refugee camp on Wednesday, 5 July, after Israeli forces withdrew following one of their biggest military operations in the occupied West Bank for years.
At least 12 Palestinians, at least five of them fighters, and one Israeli soldier had been killed in the operation which the army said was intended to destroy militant infrastructure and weapons in the densely-populated camp which houses around 14,000 people in less than half a square kilometre.
The operation began on Monday with a drone strike and the deployment of over 1,000 troops.
Tara Cobham5 July 2023 07:31
1688538658Mapped: Where is the Jenin refugee camp?
The Israeli military launched one of its largest operations in the occupied West Bank for two decades on Monday, carrying out drone strikes and sending in hundreds of troops and armoured bulldozers to hit what it claims are “terrorist infrastructure targets and armed gunmen in the Jenin camp”.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the area had become “a safe haven for terrorists” and declared: “We are putting an end to this”.
The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) said its soldiers had found “explosive devices, weapons and military equipment” in a mosque at the camp, alleging that 50 per cent of the local population is affiliated with Palestinian militant organisations like the Jenin Brigades.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar5 July 2023 07:30
