Israel ends biggest West Bank offensive in years and warns raid not a one-off

Israeli military operation in the West Bank was aimed at destroying militant infrastructure and weapons in the Jenin refugee camp

Adding to tensions, militants in the Gaza Strip launched five rockets into Israel early Wednesday which responded with air strikes

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A bomb thrown by a Palestinian explodes next to an Israeli army vehicle Jenin on Tuesday. Photo: AP

Published: 3:25am, 5 Jul 2023Updated: 2:30pm, 5 Jul 2023

The Israeli military withdrew its troops from a militant stronghold in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, ending an intense two-day operation that killed at least 13 Palestinians, drove thousands of people from their homes and left a wide swathe of damage in its wake. One Israeli soldier was also killed.

The army claimed to have inflicted heavy damage on militant groups in the Jenin refugee camp in an operation that included a series of air strikes and hundreds of ground troops.

But it remained unclear whether there would be any long-lasting effect after nearly a year and a half of heavy fighting in the West Bank.

Ahead of the withdrawal, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to carry out similar operations if needed.

The damage to a street after the Israeli army’s raid in Jenin, in the West Bank. Photo: Reuters

“At these moments we are completing the mission, and I can say that our extensive operation in Jenin is not a one-off,” he said during a visit to a military post on the outskirts of Jenin. “We will eradicate terrorism wherever we see it and we will strike at it.”

The Jenin raid was one of the most intense Israeli military operations in the West Bank since an armed Palestinian uprising against Israel’s open-ended occupation ended two decades ago.