JENIN REFUGEE CAMP, WEST — According to Palestinian officials, Israeli forces killed at least nine Palestinians and injured several others in a large-scale raid Thursday in the occupied West Bank. After the deadliest single operation in the territory in 20 years, Palestinian leaders broke security ties with Israel, which could lead to more violence.
In a separate incident, the Israeli military fatally shot a 22-year-old Palestinian.
The raid in the Jenin refugee camp raises the prospect of a major flare-up in Israeli-Palestinian fighting, puts Israel’s new hardline government to the test, and casts doubt on US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s planned trip to the region next week.
In an effort to stop Islamic militants, both Israel and the Palestinian Authority said they would cut security ties. This raised the stakes. Previous such efforts have failed, partly due to the benefits the authority derives from the relationship but also due to US and Israeli pressure to keep it going.
The move makes people worry that Islamist militant groups won’t be stopped from attacking and that the Israeli army will have to do more raids on its own.
Hamas, the Islamist militant group that rules Gaza, has threatened retaliation for the raid. In the past, when violence got worse in the West Bank, rockets were fired back from the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian Troops On High Alert
Israeli troops were on high alert in the West Bank and along the border with Gaza. Protesters poured into the territory’s streets, chanting in solidarity with Jenin. Palestinians in the refugee camp dug a mass grave for the deceased, and Abbas declared three days of mourning, with flags flying at half-staff.
According to Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for the Palestinian Authority, Abbas decided to reduce security coordination “in light of repeated aggression against our people and the undermining of signed agreements,” referring to commitments made during the Oslo peace process in the 1990s. He also said that the Palestinians planned to complain to the Security Council of the United Nations, the International Criminal Court, and other international groups.
The last time the PA cut security cooperation with Israel was in 2020. This was in response to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plans to annex the occupied West Bank, which would make it impossible to have a Palestinian state in the future. Six months later, however, the PA resumed cooperation, indicating the importance of the relationship and Palestinian relief at the election of President Joe Biden.
According to Barbara Leaf, the top US diplomat for the Middle East, the administration is deeply concerned about the situation, and civilian casualties reported in Jenin are “quite regrettable.” However, she said the Palestinian announcement to halt security cooperation with Israel was a mistake.
“We do not believe this is the appropriate step to take at this time,” she told reporters.
International Criminal Court Is Problematic
International Criminal Court Is ProblematicAccording to Leaf, the Palestinian pledge to take the matter to the United Nations and the International Criminal Court is also problematic.
“We want to see them go in the opposite direction,” she added, “and they have to engage with each other.”
The Israeli military launched a rare daytime operation in the refugee camp on Thursday, claiming it was to prevent an imminent attack on Israelis. The camp, where the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group has a significant presence, has been the target of near-daily Israeli arrest raids.
Palestinians identified at least one of the dead as a militant, but it was unclear how many others were associated with armed groups.
Later in the day, Israeli forces fatally shot a 22-year-old Palestinian, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, as Palestinians protested Thursday’s raid north of Jerusalem.
Tensions between Israelis and Palestinians have risen since Israel increased raids in the West Bank last spring in response to a wave of Palestinian attacks.
Israelis Who Murder Palestinians Will Get Immunity
Israel’s new national security minister, far-right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir, who wants to give Israeli soldiers who shoot Palestinians legal immunity, posted a video of himself triumphantly beaming. He praised security forces, saying the government “backs our fighters in the war against terrorists.”
The raid left a trail of destruction in Jenin. The apparent target of the operation, a two-story building, was a charred wreck. The military claimed it entered the building to detonate the alleged explosives of the suspects.
During the fighting, Palestinian Health Minister May Al-Kaila said paramedics struggled to reach the wounded, while Jenin Governor Akram Rajoub said the military prevented emergency workers from evacuating them.
Both accused the military of firing tear gas into a hospital’s pediatric ward, causing children to choke. A hospital video showed women carrying children into a corridor.
According to the military, forces closed roads to facilitate their operation, which may have complicated rescue efforts, and tear gas was likely blown into the hospital from nearby clashes.
Officials Investigating Deaths
Magda Obaid, 61, was identified as the victim by the Palestinian Health Ministry, and the Israeli military said it was investigating her death. Health officials identified eight other men who died as men aged 18 to 40. One of the dead, Izz al-Din Salahat, was identified as a fighter by the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, an armed militia affiliated with Fatah, the secular political party that controls the Palestinian Authority. According to the ministry, at least 20 people were injured.
According to the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem, May 14, 2021, will be the deadliest day in the West Bank since 2002. Thirteen Palestinians were killed in various clashes that day. However, Thursday marked the single bloodiest incursion since 2002, during the Second Intifada, or Palestinian uprising, which left scars visible in Jenin.
“We request that the international community assist Palestinians in their fight against this extremist right-wing government and protect our citizens,” Jenin governor Rajoub said.
The violence has “deeply alarmed and saddened” United Nations Middle East envoy Tor Wennesland, who has urged calm. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation and Turkey, which recently reestablished full diplomatic ties with Israel, condemned the attack, as did neighboring Jordan.
Tensions over violence in the West Bank have previously spilled over into Gaza.
“The resistance’s response to what happened today in the Jenin camp will not be delayed,” warned top Hamas official Saleh Arouri.
Dozens Of People Killed
The coastal enclave’s Islamic Jihad branch has repeatedly fought Israel, most recently in a three-day clash last summer that killed dozens of Palestinians and disrupted the lives of hundreds of thousands of Israelis.
According to B’Tselem, nearly 150 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank and east Jerusalem last year, making 2022 the deadliest year in those areas since 2004. 30 Palestinians have been killed this year.
According to Israel, the majority of those killed were militants. However, youths protesting the incursions and others not involved in the clashes have also been killed. One-third of Palestinians killed by Israeli troops or civilians this year, not including Thursday, had ties to armed groups.
Last year, 30 Palestinians were killed in attacks on Israelis.
Israel claims its raids are intended to dismantle militant networks and prevent attacks. According to the Palestinians, the agreement cements Israel’s 55-year-long occupation of the West Bank, which Israel captured along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians want those areas for their future state.
Israel has built dozens of settlements in the West Bank, which now house 500,000 people. Even though peace talks have been stalled for more than a decade, the Palestinians and much of the international community see settlements as illegal and an impediment to peace.
SOURCE – (AP)
