Biggest Strikes by Israel Target West Bank Since 2006

Israel conducted drone strikes on militant strongholds in the occupied West Bank early Monday and deployed hundreds of troops in the area. This operation resembled the large-scale military actions of the second Palestinian uprising twenty years ago. Palestinian health officials reported that at least eight Palestinians were killed and dozens were injured. As of midday Monday, the troops remained in the Jenin refugee camp, continuing the biggest operation in the area in over a year of conflict. This comes at a time of increasing pressure for a strong response to attacks on Israeli settlers, including a shooting attack last month that killed four Israelis.

Thick black smoke rose from the crowded camp, gunfire could be heard, and drones buzzed overhead as the military advanced. Residents reported power outages in some areas, and military bulldozers caused damage as they cleared a path for Israeli forces. The violence was condemned by the Palestinians, as well as neighboring Jordan, Egypt, and the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant stated that the operation was proceeding according to plan, but gave no indication of when it would end. Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hecht, an army representative, said around 2,000 soldiers were participating in the operation, and that drone strikes were carried out to clear the way for ground forces. The Palestinian Health Ministry reported at least eight deaths and 50 people wounded, 10 of them critically.

While Israel has recently conducted isolated airstrikes in the West Bank, Hecht stated that Monday’s strikes were an escalation unseen since the end of the Palestinian uprising in 2006. Lynn Hastings, the UN humanitarian coordinator in the Palestinian areas, expressed alarm at the scale of the Israeli forces’ operation, particularly with airstrikes in a densely populated refugee camp. The United Nations is mobilizing humanitarian aid in response. The official Palestinian news agency WAFA noted that the military blocked roads in the camp, occupied houses and buildings, and positioned snipers on rooftops, indicating that the operation could last for an extended period. Israeli military experts predict that the operation will conclude quickly, within a few hours or a day or two, as prolonged violence would attract increased international criticism and potentially draw militants into the conflict from the Gaza Strip or even Lebanon.

Islamic Jihad, a militant group with a significant presence in Jenin, threatened to launch attacks from its stronghold in the Gaza Strip if the fighting continued. Dawood Shehab, a representative for the group, stated, “If the Israeli aggression against Jenin does not stop, the Palestinian resistance will take action within a short timeframe.” In the West Bank this year, more than 130 Palestinians have been killed, marking a surge in violence that is among the most severe in nearly two decades. Israel claims that the majority of those killed are militants, but there have also been deaths among stone-throwing protesters and innocent bystanders. Since the beginning of the year, Palestinian attacks against Israelis have resulted in 24 deaths. (Read more Israel and Palestinians stories.)