Israel bombs Jenin in a major West Bank operation that kills seven

Israeli security forces launched a large-scale military operation early this morning by land and air via Jenin, stronghold of Palestinian armed militias which brought together groups of all ideologies a year and a half ago. This is the biggest incursion into the West Bank since the second intifada, which has now stopped seven dead and thirty woundedbut the number could increase as the fighting continues at the moment.

“As part of a comprehensive counter-terrorism effort in Judea and Samaria (West Bank), security forces attacked the operations center, which served as the Jenin Brigade’s joint operational command center in the Jenin refugee camp,” the report said. Spokesman for the Israeli army.

In the operation – which includes airstrikes – more than 1000 soldiersamong them combat units, but also intelligence bodies, some of which operate secretly.

As a military spokesman confirmed to Efe, the army arrested around 20 Palestinians as part of its raids. On the other hand, as army spokesman Daniel Hagari specified on Twitter, Israeli aircraft “attacked terrorist targets more than ten times and armed men” from the ground and ground forces They destroyed a laboratory for the production and storage of explosives.

Israel’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Eli Cohenhe confirmed that the military operation “is not a fight against the Palestinians”, but that it is a “fight against Iranian satellite groups in the region, namely Islamic Jihad and Hamas”.

«These are terrorist organizations financed by Iran.. And Iran’s goal is to escalate security threats in this area,” Cohen said at his first press conference for foreign media in Jerusalem, after six months in office.

Bloody military campaign on Jenin left seven dead two weeks ago; to which two members of Hamas responded with an attack on the settlement of Eli, also in the occupied West Bank, in which four settlers were killed; which in turn retaliated with several violent attacks by settler hordes on Palestinian towns, which left one dead and extensive damage.

“We will act precisely, it is very important to emphasize that we will do everything to protect the civilian population. We will attack only those involved in terror,” Cohen said.

The West Bank is experiencing its highest peak of violence since the second intifada (2000-2005) and during this 2023. 150 Palestinians died within the framework of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, most of them militants in armed conflicts with Israeli troops, but also dozens of civilians, including 23 minors.

In parallel, the area has seen the proliferation of new Palestinian armed groups, which are carrying out more and more attacks and leaving 25 killed on the Israeli side, most settlers and of which five are minors.