Israel army chief: Raiding Jenin could become inevitable choice

Chief of Staff of the Israeli Army, Aviv Kochavi, yesterday warned that raiding the West Bank city of Jenin could become an inevitable choice, Israeli TV Channel 12 reported.

Al Maydan News Agency reported the Israeli TV channel as quoting Kochavi saying the Israeli army would raid the city to “purge” the armed Palestinian factions.

Kochavi expected that one of the Palestinian escapees could have reached and entered Jenin, and could be receiving assistance from there.

He said that the investigations with Zakaria Al Zubeidi, who was recaptured, revealed that the escapees planned to go to Jenin.

“If we became sure that they arrived in Jenin, a large amount of the army would be ready to raid the city, rearrest them and put them in prison again even if this affected the rest of the West Bank,” he said.

He added that if the two remaining escapees are found to be in a different West Bank town, the same scenario would be implemented in that area.

Kochavi said that the Palestinian Authority has become weak in the occupied West Bank and Israel would not allow the Palestinian organisations to “raise their heads.”

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