Military groups pledged to respond to the deaths of nine Palestinians during an Israeli army operation in the West Bank, while the Palestinian Authority said it had broken security coordination with Tel Aviv and instructed Israeli forces to “raise readiness” to respond climbing on a potential. In what will be the second visit by a senior US official in days, Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Israel and the West Bank next week where he will call for an end to the escalating violence of recent months.
According to Tel Aviv, Israeli forces have entered the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank to thwart an imminent terrorist attack by Islamic Jihad. Nine Palestinians were killed as a result of the three-hour raid, including members of the Islamic Jihad cell, other gunmen and at least one woman not related to the suspects. Another 20 were injured in the ensuing clashes. An army official said the operation went ahead after receiving “accurate information” from the Shin Bet security agency about the Islamic Jihad cell’s apartment in the camp.
The United Nations has never recorded such a high death toll from a single operation in the West Bank since 2005, when it began keeping records. Palestinian Health Minister Mai al-Kaila denounced that “occupying forces entered Jenin’s government hospital and deliberately fired tear gas at the hospital’s children’s ward,” which the Israeli military denied.
The operation brings the number of Palestinians killed this year in the West Bank occupied by Israel since 1967 to 29, including militants and civilians. The rising death toll follows the deadliest year on record by the UN in Palestinian territory. According to data collected by AFP, at least 26 Israelis and 200 Palestinians were killed in Israel and the Palestinian territories in 2022, most of them in the West Bank.
“The resistance is everywhere and ready and prepared for the next confrontation,” said Tariq Salmi, spokesman for Islamic Jihad. Hamas number two, Saleh al-Arouri, promised that Israel will “pay the price for the Jenin massacre” and that “the answer will come soon.”
The operation took place as Israeli President Isaac Herzog spoke to MEPs in Brussels, guaranteeing that his country will “fulfill and defend at all costs” the values of “freedom, equality, justice and peace” and said he prays to see the day when your country achieves peace with the Palestinians.
It is in this climate of tension that the US Secretary of State will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas in Ramallah next week, after a stopover in Cairo.
Source: DN
