Lt Col Richard Hecht, an Israeli military spokesman, said there were no plans for troops to “hold ground” in Jenin and that they were focused on destroying or confiscating weapons.
“We’re acting against specific targets,” he said.
Israel said it also targeted a “weapons production facility” and an “explosive device storage facility” during the raid. Military officials have stressed that the operation had specific goals and suggested that it would likely continue for one day or several, rather than turn into a lengthy campaign.
However, the images of bulldozers in the streets of Jenin and the unusual use of airstrikes have evoked memories of the massive 2002 Israeli ground invasion of Jenin, at the height of the Palestinian Second Intifada. That major incursion was launched in retaliation for a Palestinian suicide bombing which killed 30 people.
Over the past year, Israeli troops have launched near-daily raids on Jenin and nearby Nablus which have targeted Palestinian militants but also killed civilians, including children – such as schoolgirl Sadeel Turkman, 15. Israel says the goal of such raids is to stop militant groups planning and launching attacks on civilians in Israeli cities, such as Tel Aviv, and in Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.
News of the raid was welcomed by the extreme-Right elements of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government, who have been demanding that he take a tougher stance on Palestinian fighters in the West Bank.
“Proud of our heroes on all fronts and this morning especially of our soldiers operating in Jenin,” Itamar Ben-Gvir, the ultra-nationalist security minister, wrote on Twitter. “Praying for their success.”
In a statement on Monday, the Jenin Brigades said: “We will fight the occupation [Israeli] forces until the last breath and bullet, and we work together and unified from all factions and military formations.”
Hamdalla Afaneh, a Palestinian politics and security analyst, said he suspected that the operation had a significant political element to it, such as appeasing the Israeli far-Right and the pro-settler movement.
“The price is paid by our children and youngsters … as usual,” he said.
