[Israel’s Defense Minister Announces Raids in West Bank, Palestinians Warn of “Man-Made Disaster”
Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz, has announced a series of raids in the occupied West Bank, targeting what he calls “terrorism” in the Jenin refugee camp. The operation, dubbed “Iron Wall,” aims to eliminate terrorists and terror infrastructure in the camp, ensuring that terrorism does not return after the operation is over. The raids come just two days after the Gaza ceasefire came into effect.
Palestinian officials warning of a “man-made disaster” as scenes of broken concrete and rubble fill the streets. Relief workers have raised fears that the devastation wrought by the Israeli campaign in Gaza will be replicated in the West Bank. At least 851 Palestinians have been killed, including 173 children, since October 7.
The UN has recorded 34 Israeli deaths in the West Bank, including 15 soldiers and 19 civilians, with seven of those civilians being settlers.
The Palestinian Health Ministry reported nine more people killed, ranging in age from 16 to 57 years old, while a 29-year-old man was also killed in the town of Ta’nek. A four-month-old baby was rushed to a hospital in Jenin with shrapnel wounds.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) has accused the Palestinian security forces of participating in the operation, accusing the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority (PA) of serving the Israeli occupation.
The scale and intensity of the operation in Jenin is “by far the hardest and most troubling” in recent months, according to the city’s mayor, Mohammad Jarrar. The Israel Defense Forces have sealed off five big residential neighborhoods, making the entire camp “impossible to get into”.
Meanwhile, international officials have raised concerns over the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the West Bank. A senior Iranian official warned that resistance to Israel will remain “as long as repression stays”. The Israel Defense Forces has said it has “hit more than 10 terrorists” in the Jenin operation and conducted “aerial strikes on terror infrastructure sites”, while “numerous explosives planted on the routes by the terrorists were dismantled”.
The operation has also led to a humanitarian crisis, with four hospitals in the area rendered less accessible to residents. Many have fled fearing the worst, and the mayor of Jenin has called on the international community to intervene, saying that the operation will lead to a “man-made disaster”.
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