07/03/2023 02:31 (act. 07/03/2023 02:31)
“Terrorist stronghold” targeted by Israelis (archive image) ©APA/AFP
Amid growing clashes in the occupied West Bank, the Israeli military launched an attack on the Palestinian city of Jenin. The attack was directed against “terrorist infrastructure”, the military said on Monday night on Twitter. According to Israeli media reports, a large-scale offensive called “House and Garden” was heralded in airstrikes, in which at least one Palestinian was killed.
A refugee camp described by the army as a “terrorist stronghold” was also targeted. The airstrikes hit, among other things, a command and communications center used as a weapons depot, a terrorist hangout and an observation post, the army and Israel’s domestic intelligence service, Shin Bet, said in a statement quoted. by the Jerusalem Post. According to the report, power outages occurred in Jenin. According to Palestinian sources, shortly after the airstrikes, the Israeli army entered the city with many soldiers fighting Palestinian militants.
The security situation in Israel and the Palestinian territories has been tense for a long time and has recently deteriorated again. After two Palestinians killed four Israelis in the West Bank nearly two weeks ago, angry Israeli settlers repeatedly used violence against Palestinians. In the first targeted airstrike in years in the occupied area, three Palestinians were killed with a military drone after shots were reportedly fired from their vehicle at a border crossing with Israel.
More than two dozen people have died in attacks since the start of the year. In the same period, about six times as many Palestinians were shot in clashes, Israeli military operations or after their own attacks.
Israel captured the West Bank and East Jerusalem during the 1967 Six Day War. Palestinians claim the areas for their own state.