Stephen Kalin and Anas Baba
WSJ, July 5, 2023
“Analysts say the militant groups, which framed the Israeli withdrawal as a victory and pledged that Israel would pay a price, will try to keep edging out the Palestinian Authority, which is widely seen as powerless and beholden to Israel.”
Palestinian families returned Wednesday to a partly destroyed refugee camp in the occupied West Bank after Israel ended a large-scale two-day military operation, with relatives organizing funerals for those killed in the Israeli assault.
Tensions remained high after the Israeli military and Gaza militants exchanged fire earlier in the day, followed later by a drive-by shooting in a Jewish settlement in the West Bank. No casualties were reported in either incident, but at least seven people were hurt Tuesday in a car-ramming and stabbing attack in Tel Aviv.
The Israeli operation in the sprawling Jenin camp was the largest in the West Bank in more than two decades, involving hundreds of troops, armored vehicles and drone strikes. Israel’s military said it had targeted the area because it had become a launchpad for terrorist attacks and a haven for perpetrators over the past 18 months. It said it confiscated thousands of weapons and explosive devices and arrested some 30 terrorism suspects.
Twelve Palestinians, including militants and at least five children, were killed during the operation and 140 wounded, including 30 in serious condition, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. A 23-year-old Israeli soldier was killed late Tuesday as the military was withdrawing.
Some of the thousands who had fled the camp during the incursion came back to find destroyed homes and public buildings, residents said. The roads were littered with debris including crumpled cars. Residents and municipal crews had begun to clean the streets of bullet casings and first-aid equipment and repair damaged water and electricity lines, they added.
“The camp will not return to its former state,” said Shafeaa al-Saadi, a taxi driver who returned to find his home damaged in an airstrike. … [To read the full article, clickhere]