Israel has launched a major military operation in the West Bank, killing at least eight Palestinians

Israeli security forces, supported by helicopters, conducted a raid in the turbulent West Bank city of Jenin on Tuesday, resulting in the deaths of at least eight Palestinians. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the operation as a “large-scale and significant military operation.”

This action was initiated a day after U.S. President Donald Trump announced the lifting of sanctions on ultranationalist Israeli settlers who had attacked Palestinian villages. Netanyahu characterized the raid as part of a broader offensive against Iranian-backed militants.

“We are systematically and resolutely confronting the Iranian axis wherever it extends its influence – in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and Judea and Samaria,” Netanyahu stated. The terms Judea and Samaria refer to the areas of the occupied West Bank as designated by Israel.

The incursion into Jenin, a city that has seen numerous Israeli military operations in recent years, follows just two days after a ceasefire was established in Gaza, highlighting the potential for increased violence in the West Bank.

The military reported that soldiers, police, and intelligence units had initiated a counter-terrorism operation in Jenin. This operation comes on the heels of a weeks-long effort by Palestinian security forces to regain control in the nearby refugee camp, which is a significant stronghold for armed groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad, both of which receive support from Iran.

Hamas, which has broadened its influence in the West Bank in recent years, urged Palestinians in the region to intensify their resistance against Israel.

As the operation commenced, Palestinian security forces retreated from the refugee camp, with mobile phone footage circulating on social media capturing the sound of intense gunfire.

According to Palestinian health services, at least eight Palestinians lost their lives and 35 were injured as the Israeli incursion began. This occurred just a week after an Israeli airstrike in the Jenin refugee camp resulted in the deaths of at least three Palestinians and left many others wounded.

Since the onset of the conflict in Gaza in October 2023, hundreds of Palestinians and several Israelis have been killed in the West Bank and Israel, with thousands of Palestinians detained during routine Israeli operations.

PROTECTING SETTLERS

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a hardline pro-settler, who oversees significant aspects of Israeli policy in the West Bank, stated that the operation marks the beginning of a “strong and ongoing campaign” against militant factions aimed at safeguarding settlements and their inhabitants.

Smotrich previously expressed support for Trump’s decision to lift sanctions on settlers accused of violence against Palestinians and indicated his eagerness to collaborate with the new administration to expand settlements.

Approximately 700,000 Israeli settlers reside among 2.7 million Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, territories captured by Israel in 1967. Most nations regard Israel’s settlements on land acquired through conflict as illegal, a stance Israel contests by referencing historical and biblical connections to the area.

The internationally recognized Palestinian Authority exercises limited self-governance over certain areas of the West Bank, which remains under Israeli military occupation.

In the days preceding the Israeli military operation, Palestinians across the West Bank reported the establishment of numerous roadblocks throughout the region, where violence has escalated since the onset of the conflict in Gaza.

On Monday evening, groups of Israeli settlers attacked Palestinians, vandalizing vehicles and setting properties ablaze near the village of al-Funduq, a location where three Israelis were killed in a shooting incident earlier this month.

The military announced that it has initiated an investigation into the event, which reportedly involved numerous Israeli civilians, some of whom were masked.

The Palestinian Authority denounced the settler violence in al-Funduq, as well as the sudden emergence of several new barriers and roadblocks, asserting that these measures are intended to “fragment the West Bank.”

In a statement, the office of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas urged the new American administration to intervene and halt these actions and Israeli policies that they believe will not lead to peace or security for anyone.