Why is Israel targeting the city of Jenin in the West Bank?

In the days after the ceasefire agreement took effect in the Gaza Strip, Israel turned its attention to a Palestinian city located about 75 miles northeast of the Strip – a city with a long history of resistance and armed activity.

The Israeli army announced this on Wednesday, during the withdrawal of some of its forces from Gaza He was going ahead with the operation In Jenin, a city located in the northern part of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. For decades, the city has been a stronghold of extremism and the target of raids by Israeli security forces.

Since the start of the war in Gaza, Hamas has gained increasing popularity and asserted its presence in the West Bank. And Iran – which supports Hamas and other armed groups in the region – did just that The area was flooded with weapons. The Palestinian Authority, which rules parts of the West Bank in coordination with Israel, has seen its fragile influence increasingly diminished.

Now, Israel seems to be focusing its attention on the West Bank, and Jenin in particular. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that the latest Israeli operation aims to “eliminate terrorism” and that it will be “wide-ranging and significant.”

Here’s what to know about Jenin and the recent Israeli operation there.

What is happening?

An Israeli army spokeswoman said on Wednesday that 10 activists were “wounded” during the operation in Jenin, without providing further details. Earlier, Israel said that it had killed eight militants since the start of the raid.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health said that ten people had been killed in Jenin and its suburbs since the start of the raid. Palestinian officials, citing the official Palestinian Authority news agency WAFA, said that at least four people were injured in the city on Wednesday.

Other cities in the West Bank were also targeted in raids. The Palestinian Authority’s Prisoners’ Affairs Authority said that occupation forces have arrested at least 25 Palestinians across the West Bank since Tuesday evening.

Why is Israel targeting the West Bank?

Since October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack Regarding Israel, the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank is losing support to factions such as Hamas that favor armed struggle and are actively fighting Israel, according to reconnaissance Written by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research.

At the same time, Deadly Israeli raids and Attacks by Jewish settlers Violence against Palestinians in the West Bank escalated. Israeli leaders say the military raids are aimed at combating terrorism in the region.

Lieutenant Colonel Herzi Halevy, the outgoing Israeli army chief of staff, said in a speech on Tuesday that his forces had killed 794 militants in the West Bank since the start of the war in Gaza. “In most cases, we thwarted the threat in advance before the terrorists could reach Israeli citizens,” he said.

Who is arming the militants?

Iran is working on A secret smuggling route through the Middle EastIt uses intelligence agents, militants and criminal gangs to deliver weapons to Palestinians in the West Bank, according to officials from the United States, Israel and Iran. Iranian officials said the goal was to stir up unrest against Israel by flooding the region with weapons.

Israeli security forces launched a widespread campaign of repression Throughout the West BankSaying that this is part of Israel’s efforts to combat terrorism against Hamas and other armed factions.

What does the Palestinian leadership do?

The Palestinian Authority is the ruling body in some areas of the occupied West Bank. In December, its security forces began a crackdown on militants in and around Jenin, over which the authorities lost control. The area is known as a stronghold for armed groups, including Hamas, which calls for armed resistance to Israel.

The Palestinian Authority emerged from the peace process between Israeli and Palestinian leaders in the 1990s that was supposed to lead to the creation of a Palestinian state but never did.

In practice, the Israeli army – the occupying power in the region – has security control over Palestinian cities. The Palestinian Authority deals with some local matters, including garbage collection, education, hospitals, and schools, and has its own security forces that coordinate with their Israeli counterparts, but their powers are limited.

Jenin has long been a symbol of resistance.

City Reputation of resistance It dates back to the 1930s, when Palestinians took up arms against British rule of Palestine during what was known as Arab revolution.

Later, in the wake of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War surrounding the creation of modern Israel and the flight or expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, Jenin cemented its reputation as a city that never surrendered when Palestinian fighters, supported by Iraqi soldiers, attacked its reputation. And repelled an Israeli attempt to seize it.

The city is home to one of the original refugee camps established for Palestinians displaced by that war.

In 1967, Israel occupied the West Bank after a war with neighboring Arab countries. The resonance of Jenin today, both for Palestinians and Israelis, stems largely from the second intifada, or uprising, against Israeli occupation in the early 2000s.

Israelis remember the city as the source of dozens of suicide bombers who were sent to Israel at that time, and Palestinians remember a 10-day battle in 2002 between militants and Israeli forces that left 52 Palestinians dead, as many as half of whom may have been civilians, according to United Nations.

Jenin was often the target of raids launched by Israeli forces. Both Hamas, which controls Gaza, and the armed group Islamic Jihad have recruited individuals in Jenin. In recent years, newer militias loosely linked to more established groups have done so It appeared among the younger generation that it Frustrated with the Palestinian leadership They consider it corrupt and amenable to the Israeli occupation.

Lara Jax, King Abdul Rahim, Isabel Kirchner, Erika Solomon Aaron Puckerman Contributed to reports.