Israel forces pull out of Jenin leaving a trail of destruction

Israeli forces pulled out of the Palestinian city of Jenin on Friday, leaving a mass of damaged buildings and infrastructure, following one of the biggest security operations in the Occupied West Bank in months, Reuters reports.

Road diggers began clearing piles of debris and rubble left by the operation, which involved hundreds of troops and police backed by helicopters and drones entering all areas of the city and the adjacent refugee camp, as well as surrounding villages.

Thousands of residents were displaced from their homes during the nine-day operation, during which troops fought running gun battles with Palestinian fighters from factions including Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah.

“When they entered, they used bulldozers and began destroying everything. They left nothing,” said Jenin resident, Samaher Abu Nassa.

Water and electricity services remain cut and around 20 km of roadway was dug up by Israeli bulldozers, a tactic the military said was aimed at neutralising roadside bombs but which has ripped up much of the centre of the city.

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A statement from the military said 30 explosives planted under the roads had been dismantled.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry accused the military of transferring the tactics used to level the Gaza Strip into the West Bank.

Jenin, in the northern part of the West Bank, has long been a stronghold of Palestinian armed factions, and the Israeli military said the operation, which also targeted the city of Tulkarem, was aimed at thwarting Iranian-backed groups planning attacks on Israeli civilians.

It said troops had killed 14 fighters during the operation, including the local Commander of Hamas in Jenin. Forces also arrested 30 suspects and confiscated weapons and dismantled infrastructure, including an underground weapons storage depot.

On Friday, thousands, including large numbers of armed men who fired into the air, joined funeral processions for people killed during the fighting. Many of the bodies were wrapped either in Palestinian flags or the green, black and yellow flags of Hamas, Islamic Jihad or Fatah.

In all, 21 people were killed in Jenin during the operation. Some were claimed as members by the armed factions but a number were uninvolved civilians, including a 16-year-old girl, apparently shot by a sniper while looking out of the window.

While the Israeli military’s main focus over most of the past year has been in Gaza, the West Bank has seen a surge in violence, with repeated clashes between the military and Palestinian fighters, as well as raids by illegal Jewish settlers on Palestinian villages.

More than 680 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, according to Palestinian Health Ministry figures. Many have been armed fighters but others have been youths throwing stones at protests or civilians with no involvement in the violence.

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