Israeli forces pulled out from the city of Jenin in the West Bank on Tuesday, according to witnesses from Reuters. Convoys of Israeli military vehicles were observed leaving Jenin, indicating the end of the Israeli operation that commenced on Monday. The violent clashes resulted in the death of twelve individuals, including at least five Palestinian fighters, as well as one Israeli soldier.
In the early hours of Wednesday, the Israeli military reported that Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip had launched five rockets toward Israel. The rockets fired from Gaza were successfully intercepted, and there have been no immediate reports of any casualties resulting from the attack, media reports said.
Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on Tuesday (July 4) said that the country’s military was “completing the mission,” indicating the potential end to the ‘anti-terror campaign,’ which has displaced thousands in the Israeli-controlled West Bank’s Jenin.
What did the Israeli PM say?
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are “completing the mission” in Jenin, said Netanyahu, two days after the country launched its largest military action in West Bank in the past 20 years. He added, “At this moment we are completing the mission, and I can say our widescale action in Jenin is not a one-time thing.”
Speaking about Israel’s largest raid in decades during a visit to a military post near the West Bank city, Netanyahu said, “We will continue as necessary to root out terrorism. We will not allow Jenin to go back to being a hotbed of terror.”
This comes after the Israeli armed forces launched the attack on Monday, arguing that the Jenin camp had become a hotbed of terrorism, which has claimed the lives of several Israeli citizens over the past 18 months.
The operation has since drawn international criticism from various countries but also partial support from others, including the United States, United Kingdom, and Germany who have said that Israel has the right to defend itself against terrorism but also urged restraint and protection of civilians.
Additionally, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant says Jenin “in the past two years had become a factory for terror. In the past two days, this ended.” He went on to claim that the IDF has “cut off the weapons manufacturing process, captured thousands of bombs, destroyed dozens of production sites, workshops and explosives labs.”
Death toll in Jenin rises to 12, thousands displaced
The total death toll amid the two-day counterterrorism operation reached 12.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Red Crescent said it had evacuated 500 families from the Jenin camp or 3,000 people. The densely populated refugee camp, where some 14,000 people, live has become a focal point in the rise of violence in the region.
Violence in West Bank, Israel ‘must stop’: UN human rights chief
In a statement, the United Nations human rights chief, Volker Turk said, “The recent operation in the occupied West Bank and car-ramming attack in Tel Aviv worryingly underscore an all too familiar pattern of events: that violence only begets more violence.”
Earlier, a car-ramming and stabbing incident in Tel Aviv on Tuesday injured eight and left some in serious condition, as per Israeli officials. The Islamist Hamas group later claimed responsibility for the attack and identified 23-year-old Abdel-Wahab Khalyleh as the perpetrator and called the attack “an act of self-defence in the face of the ongoing Zionist massacre in Jenin.”
“The killing, maiming and the destruction of property must stop,” said Turk. Furthermore, he also raised alarm about the Jenin operation, including the use of repeated airstrikes, along with the destruction of property, in the context of international human rights norms and standards.
The UN human rights chief also said that some of the methods and weapons used “are more generally associated with the conduct of hostilities in armed conflict, rather than law enforcement.” In reference to the airstrikes particularly, he said that “the deaths resulting from such airstrikes may also amount to wilful killings.”
(With inputs from agencies)
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