Jerusalem, Jan 29 (IANS) The Israeli military will remain in the occupied West Bank’s Jenin refugee camp after its ongoing raid there concludes, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Wednesday.
The raid began on January 21, two days after a truce took effect between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, with large military forces, security agency Shin Bet, and Border Police entering the Jenin area.
More than 16 people have been killed by Israeli forces since the raid began, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
During a visit to the Jenin refugee camp, Katz said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) troops were “operating forcefully” in the camp.
“The Jenin refugee camp will not return to what it was,” he said. “We have declared war on Palestinian terror in the West Bank.”
“After the operation is completed, IDF forces will remain in the camp to ensure that terror does not return,” he added.
In photos released by the ministry, Katz is seen touring the refugee camp, inspecting damaged residential buildings, and speaking with commanders, Xinhua news agency reported.
Jenin, located in the northern West Bank, is a territory occupied by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war. Israel has kept its control over the land despite international criticism.
On Tuesday, the Palestinian authorities claimed that an Israeli drone strike killed two Palestinian men and wounded three others during the targetting of a vehicle in the Nour Shams refugee camp near Tulkarm in the occupied West Bank.
The Ramallah-based Health Ministry said in a statement that two fatalities and three injuries were brought to Tulkarm Governmental Hospital following the strike.
Meanwhile, the IDF and the Israel Security Agency confirmed in a statement that the Israeli Air Force (IAF) killed two in Tulkarm.
“During a joint IDF and ISA counterterrorism activity, an IAF aircraft struck and eliminated Ihab Abu Atiwi, a terrorist who served as the head of Hamas in Tulkarm, and an additional terrorist,” the statement read.
It added that Abu Atiwi was involved in numerous shooting attacks, including an attack on an Israeli vehicle at the Ramin junction in the West Bank in July last year, in which three Israelis were injured.
–IANS
int/as
