Israel begins the withdrawal of troops in Jenin after two days of operation that have left eleven dead

4 (EUROPA PRESS)

Israel’s military forces began this Tuesday night to withdraw from the West Bank city of Jenin, apparently concluding an operation that began on Monday and which has so far resulted in at least twelve Palestinian deaths and more than a hundred. of wounded.

The start of this withdrawal, confirmed by military sources to Europa Press, took place just a few hours after the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, went to a checkpoint near Jenin to justify the need to “complete the mission” in the area with the aim of “eradicating terrorism” by Palestinian militias.

Netanyahu had warned that the Armed Forces would continue “as long as necessary.” “We will not allow Jenin to become a bastion of terrorism again,” said the prime minister, who has defended the importance of this type of offensive in the face of attacks such as the one that occurred in Tel Aviv, where a new outrage took place. “Whoever thinks that this attack will prevent us from continuing to fight terrorism is wrong. They do not know the spirit of Israel, its government, its citizens, its fighters,” he stressed, according to the Times of Israel newspaper.

For his part, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant pointed out that Jenin had become “in the last two years” a “terrorism factory”, now finished “in two days”. In this sense, he has considered the weapons manufacturing process eliminated, with the destruction of “dozens” of laboratories and the seizure of “thousands of bombs.”

The Palestinian Ministry of Health has confirmed this Tuesday night on Facebook the death of a twelfth person due to the Israeli operation, hours after announcing the death of a young man who had been wounded by a shot to the head. The authorities do not rule out that the death toll increases, since there are injuries in critical condition.

The Army has ruled out that there are civilians among the victims, despite the fact that there would be minors, and has identified some of them as members of Islamic Jihad and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas). The Palestinian Authority has announced the suspension of all contacts and maintain the suspension of security collaboration with Israel in protest of the offensive.

ICRC APPEAL

The operation has drawn criticism from the UN and also from NGOs working on the ground who have denounced problems in providing humanitarian assistance. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has considered it “fundamental” to respect and protect the lives of civilians and civilian infrastructure in the face of the “alarming escalation of armed violence.”

“Every minute during which this violence continues represents a danger to the lives of the inhabitants, homes, essential services and infrastructure,” warned the organization, which has demanded unimpeded access to health services for all those that they need it.

He has also warned of the “worrying” deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the West Bank after the incidents in recent months. “It is imperative to take immediate action to end the violence,” he said in a statement.