The Israeli army has announced that their three-day Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin has ended.
The military stated that the “extensive operation” in the occupied West Bank city lasted 60 hours, adding that it arrested 14 “wanted” individuals.
The army also said that it killed more than 10 fighters, destroyed tunnel shafts and confiscated weapons during the operation.
Israel has been regularly carrying out deadly raids in the West Bank amid an uptick in settler violence. More than 270 Palestinians have been killed in the territory since the start of the war in Gaza.
Residents reported seeing Israeli military vehicles leaving the city on Thursday afternoon, signaling an end to the unusually long operation inside Jenin and its refugee camp, a stronghold of Palestinian armed resistance in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
In a statement carried by the Palestinian news agency, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, Spokesman for the Palestinian Authority presidency, specifically decried the Israeli army’s military raid on the West Bank city of Jenin and the Jenin refugee camp.
Abu Rudeineh said that Israel is attempting to implement plans for the “annexation, displacement, and annihilation of the Palestinian people.”
He held U.S President Joe Biden’s administration responsible for the “consequences” and called on the U.S to “intervene immediately” and stop the “madness.”
Meanwhile, Palestinian telecommunications firm, Paltel disclosed that all services have been cut off to Gaza again amid the Israeli bombardment.
“Gaza is blacked out again,” the Palestinian service provider said.
NetBlocks, an organisation that tracks cybersecurity, digital governance and internet connectivity, stated on X that the incident represents the sixth near-total telecoms blackout in Gaza since October 7.
Pressure On Israeli Allies To Take Action
Sultan Barakat, a senior professor at Hamad Bin Khalifa University, opined that pressure is growing on Israeli-allied countries to take action against the increasing attacks in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
Barakat said that the U.S is “losing the grip” over the conflict and Israel’s behaviour.
Referring to a UN General Assembly resolution earlier this week, Barakat stated, “The U.S stood against the rest of the world, first vetoing the resolution at the Security Council, and then it was among a minority of 10 countries against the rest of the world thinking that there is no need for a ceasefire.”
“And I think they must find it becoming really, really hard for domestically and internationally to accept what Israel is doing,” the Professor opined.
And so, Barakat said Washington would like Israel to kill fewer Palestinian civilians and allow more aid into Gaza.
However, he added that with more than 18,000 Palestinians killed, the US is “already complicit” in what Israel is doing.
“They need at least to show the rest of the world that they’ve tried, and they’re giving the messages clearly to Israel,” Barakat told Al Jazeera.
Speaking to a news agency, analyst Sultan Barakat said, “humanitarian aid, no matter how much the amount, is not the solution”.
“People there cannot just live on humanitarian assistance,” said Barakat, who is a senior professor at Hamad Bin Khalifa University.
He also commented on the remarks by the UNRWA chief who condemned a “smear campaign” against the agency’s work in Gaza.
“Israel is after UNRWA. They want to close UNRWA, they have been wanting to close UNRWA for many, many years because, for them, UNRWA symbolises the Palestinian cause,” Barakat said.
“It has the same age, 75 years; it was created specifically for the Palestinians, so as long as it persists, it is saying the Palestinian question is still open and its got to be addressed,” he added.
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