Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz visited Jenin on Wednesday, vowing that the occupation forces would remain in the camp indefinitely.
The Israeli army has said that its “Iron Wall” operation launched in Jenin last week may last several months, as another Palestinian dies of wounds sustained in an airstrike in the occupied West Bank town.
According to the Al Jazeera Arabic news site, the Israeli Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Wednesday that senior officials in the Central Command of the Israeli army said that the large-scale offensive in Jenin may last several months to completely dismantle the Jenin battalion of Palestinian Resistance fighters.
lsraeli occupation forces demolish more than 60 houses in Jenin Camp, northern West Bank. pic.twitter.com/NSCc1Rg9YI
— TIMES OF GAZA (@Timesofgaza) January 29, 2025
The report also stated that the Israeli Walla website reported on Tuesday, citing military sources, that the Israeli army was preparing to expand its operations in the West Bank.
Walla reported that the army was considering expanding ground activity throughout the West Bank and the Jordan Valley, the report noted.
Katz Visits Jenin
The Jerusalem Post reported on Wednesday that Defense Minister Israel Katz said that the army would remain in Jenin even after the current 8-day-long operation ends, giving no withdrawal date.
The paper said this “signaled a decades-long change in policy” because generally, “since the Second Intifada of 2000-2005, the IDF has not stationed troops for any extended period within major Palestinian cities like Jenin.”
“Rather, the IDF has carried out several multi-day operations in Jenin since mid-2023, but has always completely withdrawn its forces afterwards,” the report added.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz speaking from Jenin:
“After the operation is completed, Israeli troops will remain in the camp to make sure the terror does not return.”
“We declared a war on Palestinian terror in the occupied West Bank.”
“Operation Iron Wall comes to… pic.twitter.com/CYkNLLOmik
— The Cradle (@TheCradleMedia) January 29, 2025
Katz visited the Jenin refugee camp on Wednesday, along with army commanders, reported the Israeli i24 news site.
“The IDF is operating powerfully in the Jenin refugee camp, to thwart terrorists and destroy the infrastructure of terror, as we saw here today,” Katz reportedly said.
“The Jenin refugee camp will not return to what it was,” he added. Katz vowed that the army would “remain in the camp to ensure that terror does not return.”
17 Killed, Dozens Injured
Seventeen Palestinians have been killed and dozens more injured since the operation began last Tuesday. It has since expanded to the Tulkarm camp in the northern West Bank, reported Al Jazeera.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced on Wednesday that Omar Abu Al-Haija, 25, died from his wounds as a result of an airstrike on the Cinema Roundabout area in Jenin.
The situation in the West Bank is escalating really quickly.
Jenin refugee camp has been largely depopulated with the Israeli military confirming they have destroyed more than 30 buildings. While I was there the explosions were non stop.
Thousands are displaced without shelter.…
— Mariam Barghouti مريم البرغوثي (@MariamBarghouti) January 28, 2025
Palestinian sources said the Israeli forces prevented him from receiving medical treatment and then left him to bleed to death.
The Israeli army has demolished more than 60 homes in the Jenin refugee camp, forcibly displacing thousands of residents, according to reports.
Roads and other infrastructure have also been bulldozed by the army, including the area around the Jenin Government Hospital.
Tulkarm Invasion
On Tuesday, 23-year-old Ayman Naji was killed by Israeli occupation forces in the Artah suburb of Tulkarm, as the army continued its raid on the area for a third consecutive day.
Israeli occupation forces MURDERED Palestinian youth Ayman Naji, 23, in the occupied #West_Bank city of Tulkarm tonight! pic.twitter.com/RK0kmJfM04
— Motasem A Dalloul (@AbujomaaGaza) January 29, 2025
On Wednesday, another young Palestinian was shot in the head by Israeli snipers in the Hanoun Square neighborhood of Tulkarm camp, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported. QNN reported that he was injured.
Water, Electricity Cut Off
Residents of the camp have been living without water, electricity and communications for the third day as bulldozers continue to destroy the infrastructure.
A Palestinian man was just shot and injured by Israeli occupation forces in Tulkarm refugee camp. pic.twitter.com/MDa9DBV3Jl
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) January 29, 2025
The head of the Popular Committee for Services in Tulkarm Camp, Faisal Salama, told WAFA in a statement on Tuesday that the camp was witnessing a large displacement of its citizens, and that more than 1,000 refugees were forcibly expelled from the camp.
Hospital Under Siege
In Tulkarm city, the occupation forces continue their siege of the Martyr Thabet Thabet Governmental Hospital and the Israa Specialized Hospital, obstructing the work of ambulances and their medical crews, reported WAFA.
At least 10 Palestinians have been detained in raids of various areas of the West Bank, including occupied Jerusalem.
Israeli bulldozer uproots trees and destroys property around Thabet Thabet Hospital in Tulkarem, occupied West Bank.
Local sources report that Israeli forces are destroying shops and houses and turning buildings into military barracks after evacuating a number of Tulkarem Camp’s… pic.twitter.com/mMHCHn7AuA
— The Cradle (@TheCradleMedia) January 28, 2025
The incursions included several areas in the northern West Bank, such as Jenin, Tulkarm, Nablus, Ramallah in the center, and Hebron (Al-Khalil) in the south.
In another development, sources told Al Jazeera that Israeli forces demolished 5 homes in the village of Al-Duyouk Al-Tahta in the city of Jericho.
Following the Resistance operation of October 7, 2023, Israeli attacks in the West Bank have escalated, resulting in the deaths of 882 Palestinians, the injury of 6,500, and the arrest of more than 11,000 others, according to official Palestinian data cited by Al Jazeera.
(PC, AJA, WAFA)
