Israel’s counter-terror operation continues in Jenin
Fighting continued in the Jenin refugee camp as an Israeli counter-terror incursion entered its second day.
Israeli soldiers in Jenin on July 3, 2023. Photo by IDF Spokesperson
Around 3,000 of the 18,000 Palestinians living in the UN-administered refugee camp left on Monday to flee the fighting. Israeli security officials denied claims that Israel had ordered the Palestinians out of the camp and added that anyone who wished to leave was free to do so. The 3,000 are sheltering in homes and schools around Jenin.
Soldiers uncovered more bomb-making laboratories with instruction manuals and ready-to-use explosives. Since the beginning of the raid, soldiers have seized a home-made rocket launcher, weapons, explosives, communication equipment and other military gear.
The Israel Defence Forces said its forces killed 10 Palestinians, adding that “all the dead were involved in combat”, adding that 120 wanted terror suspects have been arrested since Monday morning. The IDF is still searching for 350 terrorists in Jenin, of which 160 the IDF believes are still in the refugee camp.
Despite an announcement by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas that he was ending security cooperation with Israel, the IDF denied it had been severed.
Overnight, Palestinians vandalised Joseph’s Tomb in Shechem (Nablus). “Only the State of Israel can protect Joseph’s tomb. The abandonment of the tomb was an omission that it is time to correct,” said Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Council, which represents Jewish communities in the area.
Israeli security officials are due to assess the situation. It is believed that political leaders will continue the operation.
The incursion was widely anticipated by Israelis and Palestinians alike as Palestinian terror mounted in northern Samaria. Since the beginning of 2023, 28 people have been killed in terror attacks. The Palestinian Authority has little influence in northern Samaria.
In mid-June, an unusually large bomb buried beneath a road injuring seven soldiers was followed by the launch of the first rocket from Jenin. The IDF carried out a targeted assassination of three terrorists in Samaria with an aerial drone, a tactic not seen in Judea and Samaria in 20 years.
