Anti-terror raid on Jenin kills eight Palestinians

Israeli forces converged on the Jenin refugee camp yesterday, follows weeks of speculation that the IDF would mount a major military operation to root out terror in the Islamic Jihad stronghold.

Israel’s military launched multiple air raids in the northern West Bank town of Jenin yesterday, killing at least eight Palestinians and wounding more than 100. The town's water supply was cut off.

Israeli soldiers raided a mosque in the Jenin refugee camp, after identifying it as command centre for terror operations and a hiding place for a group of Palestinian militants. The army issued a statement saying its forces found weapons stashed in tunnels dug underneath the mosque.

Earlier on Monday, soldiers conducted weapons searches in houses in the camp, arresting 20 Palestinians so far. The IDF said that a laboratory for manufacturing explosives was discovered and parts of a rocket launcher have been confiscated, among other weapons.

Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said: "The forces are working with a concentrated effort against the centres of terrorism in Jenin. We will take an offensive approach against terrorism – anyone who harms the citizens of Israel will pay a heavy price."

The White House issued a statement Monday saying that it is "monitoring the situation closely," and that it supports "Israel’s security and right to defend its people against Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and other terrorist groups."

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, called the operation "a new war crime against our defenceless people." Rudeineh also called on the international community to "stop the shameful silence and take action to seriously stop Israeli aggression."

Spontaneous processions and rallies in solidarity with residents of Jenin took place in several places around the West Bank, including Aska refugee camp in Nablus and the Deheisheh refugee camp near Bethlehem.

In a separate incident in Ramallah, a convoy of cars left for the Beit El checkpoint, where clashes between Palestinians and the army had developed, resulting in the death of 21-year-old Muhammad Imad Hasanin, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.