The Israeli military said its latest attack on Jenin hit a weapons production and explosives storage facility, while its forces seized an improvised rocket launcher.Īn army spokesman told journalists that Monday’s operation was intended to help “break the safe haven mindset of the camp, which has become a hornets’ nest”. One of the main goals of Israel’s raids in the West Bank over the past two years has been to crush the new groups, part of an operation called “Break the Wave”. The Jenin Brigades are just one of the newly emergent groups, which represent increased disillusionment with the Palestinian Authority and frustration at the ongoing Israeli occupation. Along with Gaza, Jenin has now become a main symbol of Palestinian resistance. Fighters from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Fatah and Hamas groups are also thought to be active in Jenin.Īn increasing number of Palestinian youth have taken up arms against Israel, in the face of growing Israeli military operations and efforts to expand illegal settlements in the West Bank. The fighters include hundreds under the banner of the Jenin Brigades, a newly-emerged group, compromised of combatants from several armed factions. The Jenin refugee camp has increasingly become home to Palestinian fighters, especially in the past year, as Israel expands its raids in the occupied West Bank. Residents reported bullets indiscriminately fired into their homes, and Jenin’s Deputy Governor Kamal Abu al-Rub told Al Jazeera that the Israeli army cut off all electricity, telecommunications and water in a “collective punishment” for all residents. Gunfights ensued after Israeli forces entered the camp and were faced by Palestinian resistance fighters. City entrances were closed off using tractors, which also aided the troops in making their entrance into Jenin. Some 150 armoured vehicles and about 1,000 soldiers from elite special forces, the military, general intelligence, police and border police participated in the operation.
Before June 21, when Israel carried out a drone strike near Jenin that left several people dead and angered Palestinian fighters, it had not used drone strikes in the occupied West Bank since 2006.Īfter the strikes, Israeli forces then completely surrounded the refugee camp using dozens of armoured vehicles in preparation for a massive ground military operation that caused heavy damage to homes and roads.
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