At one stage, participants booed representatives of Abbas’s Palestinian Authority, chanted their support for a local militant group and ran them out of the cemetery. ![]() Mass funerals for the Palestinians killed in the raid drew thousands of mourners. Amateur videos posted on social media appeared to show angry residents of Jenin hurling stones at the Palestinian Authority police headquarters after the Israeli military’s withdrawal. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose autonomy government administers parts of the West Bank, has rejected violence against Israelis, but has effectively lost control over several strongholds of gunmen. To the security establishment, this is a successful operation thus far, but it holds no real chance of effecting a fundamental change in the state of affairs in the West Bank,” wrote Amos Harel, military affairs commentator for the Haaretz daily. “As usual, these things are best taken in proportion. READ MORE: At least 5 Palestinians dead after fierce fighting erupts in West Bank This week’s raid had wide support across Israel’s political spectrum, but some critics in the country argued the impact is short-lived, with slain gunmen quickly replaced by others. However, the continued cycle of army raids and Palestinian attacks raised new questions about Israel’s tactics. Some of the scenes from Jenin, including massive army bulldozers tearing through camp alleys, were eerily similar to those from a major Israeli incursion in 2002, which lasted for eight days and became known as the battle of Jenin.īoth operations, two decades apart, were meant to crush militant groups in the camp and deter and prevent attacks on Israelis emanating from the camp. The Jenin raid was one of the most intense Israeli military operations in the West Bank since an armed Palestinian uprising against Israel’s open-ended occupation ended two decades ago. “We will eradicate terrorism wherever we see it and we will strike at it.” “At these moments we are completing the mission, and I can say that our extensive operation in Jenin is not a one-off,” he said during a visit to a military post on the outskirts of Jenin. But it remained unclear whether there would be any lasting effect after more than a year of heavy fighting in the West Bank.Īhead of the withdrawal, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to carry out similar operations if needed. The army claimed to have inflicted heavy damage on militant groups in the operation, which included a series of airstrikes and hundreds of ground troops. His home was not hit, but there was no water, electricity or internet service. “Roads were destroyed and many houses were affected, glass from windows was everywhere,” he said. Kefah Dabayyah, a 33-year-old Jenin refugee camp resident, said that he and his family had returned Wednesday to find widespread destruction. WATCH: Israeli military launches largest attacks on West Bank in nearly 20 years Thousands who had fled the fighting began returning. Shopkeepers and bulldozers started clearing the debris. Residents of the Jenin refugee camp emerged from their homes to find alleys lined by piles of rubble and flattened or scorched cars. ![]() ![]() Twelve Palestinians and an Israeli soldier were killed in the two-day raid. JENIN REFUGEE CAMP, West Bank (AP) - Israel withdrew troops from a West Bank militant stronghold Wednesday, but warned that its most intense military operation in the occupied territory in nearly two decades could be repeated.
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