As Israel ended its multifaceted and brutal 48-hour raid within the occupied West Bank, Palestinians returned to the scarred streets of Jenin on Wednesday.
While a few of them had been getting ready heroes’ funerals for the lifeless whereas others set about repairing the 75-year-old refugee camp.
Paving had been churned up by armored bulldozers, inflicting a water pipe to burst and leaving sodden gullies of rubble that residents – lots of whom had holed up at house, or evacuated as a precaution – traversed with a grim and businesslike gait.
After months of spiraling skirmishes, Israel on Monday swamped town’s refugee camp with a whole lot of commandos backed by fight drones. Commanders claimed the operation – dubbed “Home and Garden” – aimed to root out Palestinian armed teams.
“They did not get what they wanted, thank God. The youths are fine, the families are fine and the camp is fine,” Mutasem Estatia, a father of six, instructed Reuters after what he described as two nights being stored away, certainly one of them in Israeli detention.
Thirteen Palestinian males or male youngsters had been killed, 5 of them confirmed as members of Hamas or Islamic Jihad. Scores of Palestinians had been wounded. One Israeli soldier was additionally killed within the clashes.
Israeli forces additionally detained round 150 Palestinians and allegedly destroyed a number of weapons caches.
“There are 12 martyrs and we are proud of them, but we expected more damage given the raid’s scale,” Estatia stated.
Israel appeared poised to return to Jenin and different areas of the occupied West Bank, the place Palestinians search statehood.
“I’ve made clear that this broad action in Jenin is not a one-off,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed Channel 14 TV Monday. “It will be the beginning of regular incursions and continuous control of the territory …”
As the troops withdrew in a single day, Israel reported a volley of rockets from the Gaza Strip, one other Palestinian territory. The rockets had been shot down and Israel’s air drive struck targets in Gaza belonging to the ruling Hamas, inflicting no casualties.
In an extra signal of violence spilling over from Jenin, a Palestinian rammed his automotive into pedestrians in Tel Aviv on Monday and stabbed eight individuals earlier than he was shot lifeless. Hamas claimed him as a member.
“We say to the enemy: The time when you could practice your aggression against our people without paying the price has passed. Today, Jenin is teaching you a lesson in resistance and steadfastness,” Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh stated in a press release.
The tenement-like camp homes refugees from the 1948 struggle of Israel’s founding. Poverty, pissed off peace diplomacy and political drift have stoked help for teams like Islamic Jihad and Hamas.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
