Israel’s raid left Jenin in rubble. Netanyahu says it won’t be the last time

JENIN REFUGEE CAMP — Israel ended Wednesday a two-day operation in the Jenin refugee camp that killed 12 Palestinians and an Israeli soldier, forced thousands from their homes, and created a new equation in the West Bank conflict for longer, deadlier reprisals to militant attacks.

The operation, the biggest in two decades, cleared Jenin camp of hundreds of explosives and weapons and confiscated hundreds of thousands of dollars in “terror funds,” according to Israel. But the scars on the camp were everywhere with churned asphalt and pulverized cars, windows and doors smashed in by military bulldozers. Cartridge shells and burned tires littered the streets, while water and power supplies were cut.

“Israel’s broad operation in Jenin is not a one-time event,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the troops began the withdrawal Tuesday night. “We will not allow Jenin to go back to being a city of refuge for terrorism.”

Israeli troops leave Jenin after two-day incursion, trade fire with Gaza

Camp residents, however, warned that the depredations would only fuel more violence, while Israeli analysts, too, warned this would not be the last time.

“We could see similar activities even tomorrow,” said former deputy head of Israel’s national security council Itamar Yaar, adding that the operations were not intended to achieve deterrence against future attacks “ but to limit the terrorists’ capabilities.”

Fathya al-Sadi, a 69-year- old widow, said that she spent all of Monday, the first day of the incursion, hiding at the back of her house with son, grandchildren and dozens of her neighbors, some of whom feared their houses were on Israel’s target list.

The children were screaming, I had to hug them all the time,” she said, adding that finally at one point an Israeli soldier broadcast from the ruined streets and exhorted residents to leave.

“He said ‘get out, get out, get out! We will protect you,’” she recalled. She filled a few plastic bags and backpacks, and made her way between soldiers and military vehicles to her brother’s apartment outside the camp in Jenin city itself, where she and her family slept on the floor until Wednesday morning.

How Israel’s raids on Jenin led to a major West Bank military operation

Upon her return to the camp, she found that her home was still intact, but a neighbor’s was partially destroyed by an airstrike, its wall pockmarked with bullet holes. A charred appliance workshop nearby was surrounded by demolished cars.

Israel conducted a two-day operation in the Jenin refugee camp, resulting in the deaths of 12 Palestinians and one Israeli soldier. The operation aimed to clear the camp of explosives, weapons, and "terror funds," according to Israel. However, the camp suffered significant damage, with destroyed infrastructure and disrupted water and power supplies. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that the operation in Jenin would not be a one-time event and vowed not to allow the camp to become a refuge for terrorism. Camp residents and Israeli analysts warned that the operation would likely fuel further violence and could be repeated in the future. Some residents fled the camp during the operation, while others remained and found ways to hide from the Israeli forces. The long-term impact on the militants' capabilities in Jenin was unclear, as the camp has become a hub for various militant groups. The Palestinian Authority has limited presence in the area.

Israel has claimed that all 12 of the Palestinian men killed were combatants. Amid the fighting, some 4,000 residents of the camp fled on Monday night, according to Jenin mayor Nidal Al-Obeidi.

Israeli authorities have not addressed the estimated 100 injured Palestinians, many of whom were being treated and needed to be evacuated a second time from the hospital when Israeli forces hit the medical wards with tear gas and bullets.

How much the fighting capabilities of Jenin’s militants had been affected was not immediately clear. The camp in particular has become a hub of militant groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad, as well as more local ones, involved in the violence resistance to Israel’s occupation. The Palestinian Authority, meant to govern this area, has virtually no presence.

By midday on Wednesday, a group of men in black, some wearing black masks, almost all carrying automatic weapons, walked back through the gates of the camp after escaping during the operation.

Some had never left, as well, one of the fighters told The Washington Post late Tuesday in the final hours of the incursion.

The 29-year- old, who declined to give his name because he is wanted by Israel, spoke near the crowded hospital outside the camp gates. He would soon return, he said, describing tunnels and other clandestine passageways that allowed militants to hide from the soldiers while moving in and out.

“The Israelis think they control the camp, but it is easy to move around,” he said.