The action, launched a day after US President Donald Trump declared he was lifting sanctions on ultranationalist Israeli settlers who attacked Palestinian villages, was announced by Netanyahu as a new offensive against Iranian-backed militants.
"We are acting systematically and resolutely against the Iranian axis wherever it extends its arms – in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Judea and Samaria," Netanyahu said. Judea and Samaria are terms Israel uses for the occupied West Bank.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) "On the directive of the Security Cabinet, the IDF, the ISA and the Israel Police have today begun an extensive and significant military operation to defeat terrorism in Jenin – 'Iron Wall'.January 21, 2025
The move into Jenin, where the Israeli army has carried out multiple raids and large-scale incursions over recent years, comes only two days after the start of a ceasefire in Gaza.
The military said soldiers, police and intelligence services had begun a counter-terrorism operation in Jenin.
It follows a weeks-long operation by Palestinian security forces in the West Bank to reassert control in the adjacent refugee camp, a major centre of armed militant groups including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, both of which get support from Iran.
Hamas, based in Gaza, has over recent years expanded its reach in the West Bank, where the Palestinian Authority, dominated by the rival Fatah faction, exercises limited governance.
On Tuesday, Hamas called on Palestinians in the territory to escalate fighting against Israel.
Israel says the operation is the start of an ongoing campaign against militant groups. (AP PHOTO)
As the operation began, Palestinian security forces withdrew from the refugee camp and the sound of heavy gunfire could be heard in mobile phone footage shared on social media.
Palestinian health services said at least nine Palestinians were killed and 35 wounded in the Israeli raid, which continued well into the night. A week earlier, an Israeli air strike in the Jenin refugee camp killed at least three Palestinians and wounded scores more.
Since the October 2023 start of the war in Gaza, hundreds of Palestinians and dozens of Israelis have been killed in the West Bank and Israel and thousands of Palestinians have been detained in regular Israeli raids.
Hardline pro-settler Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has responsibility for large parts of Israeli policy in the West Bank, said the operation was the start of a "strong and ongoing campaign" against militant groups "for the protection of settlements and settlers".
At least nine Palestinians have been killed in the new offensive. (AP PHOTO)
Earlier, Smotrich welcomed Trump's decision to lift sanctions on settlers accused of violence against Palestinians. He said he looked forward to cooperating with the new US administration in expanding settlements, which most countries consider to be in violation of international law.
In the days leading up to the Israeli military operation in Jenin, Palestinians in the West Bank said multiple roadblocks had been set up throughout the territory, where violence has resurged since the start of the war in Gaza.
Late on Monday, bands of Israeli settlers attacked Palestinians, smashing cars and burning property, around the village of al-Funduq, near Qalqilya, an area where three Israelis were killed in a shooting earlier this month.
Around 700,000 Israeli settlers live among 2.7 million Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, land Israel captured in 1967.
Most countries consider Israel's settlements on territory seized in war to be illegal. Israel disputes this, citing historical and biblical ties to the land.
