Palestinian militants fired on Israeli armored vehicles in Jenin after the raids. Photo: AFP/Jaafar Ashtiye 
Debris and fires from an airstrike in Jenin Photo: Issam Rimawi/Anadolu Agency
About 1 am in On Monday, the Israeli army launched a drone strike on the site, a «command center» used by militant groups in Jenin before dispatching troops and bulldozers.
«We woke up to the sound of airstrikes,» a resident told The Telegraph on Monday afternoon Jenina Taer Jabarin. “We couldn't leave the house. We are locked in houses. No one is allowed to move, otherwise he will be the target of either a sniper or a random bullet.”
The building was reportedly run by the Jenin Brigades, a unit formed from various Palestinian militant groups, including Islamic Jihad and Islamic Jihad. Hamas.
Video footage shows smoke rising from the rooftops of Jenin as several drones circled the air on Monday morning and there were reports of sporadic gunfire. Power was cut in parts of Jenin and residents saw military bulldozers drive through and damage narrow streets.
0407 Jenin attack
Palestinian health officials said nine Palestinians were killed in the raid, which continued into Monday night, and that another 100 people were injured. The death toll could rise as many of the injured are in critical condition.
While Israel frequently raids the northern cities of Nablus and Jenin, the scale of forces deployed on Monday and the use of drone strikes were highly unusual.
Airstrikes, including drone strikes, are much more common on Palestinians in the blockaded Gaza Strip, and there are fears that the Israeli military is now moving this mode of warfare to the West Bank.
Paramedics carry a wounded Palestinian to the hospital» />Tires set on fire by Palestinians in the streets. Photo: Reuters
For weeks, the Israeli government has been facing intense pressure from the right to take a tougher stance against militant groups in Jenin who have carried out numerous fatal attacks against Israelis.
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These calls intensified in June after four Israelis were killed by Palestinian militants in the West Bank settlement of Eli, near a gas station and a hummus restaurant.
“What is happening in the refugee camp is a real war,” Palestinian ambulance driver Khaled Alahmad told Reuters. “There were strikes from the sky on the camp, every time we bring five to seven ambulances and return with the wounded.”
“Air bombing and air intrusion into the ground,” said Mahmoud al- Saadi, director of the Palestinian Red Crescent in Jenin. “Several houses and objects were blown up… Smoke is rising from everywhere.”
The Israel Army released aerial photographs of what it called a «forward surveillance and intelligence center» that was fired upon by its drones early Monday morning. The Centre, an apartment building in the heart of the Jenin refugee camp, was used by militant groups to warn each other of the approach of Israeli military forces, the Israeli army said.
This is the second time Israel has launched drone strikes in the West Bank since 2006 following a similar drone attack last month on a Palestinian car that reportedly killed three militants.
An Israeli army bulldozer drives through the city. 73fc .jpg» />The Israeli army reportedly fired rockets from helicopters into the militant stronghold. Credit: Majdi Mohammed/AP
Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, an Israeli military spokesman, said the troops had no plans to «hold ground» in Jenin and were focused on destroying or confiscating weapons.
“We are acting against specific targets,” he said.
Israel said it also targeted a «weapons manufacturing facility» and an «explosive storage facility» during the raid. Military officials emphasized that the operation had specific goals and suggested that it would likely last one or more days rather than turn into a protracted campaign.
However, images of bulldozers on the streets of Jenin and the use of airstrikes brought back memories of Israel's massive ground invasion of Jenin in 2002, at the height of the Second Palestinian Intifada. This major incursion was in retaliation for a Palestinian suicide bombing that killed 30 people.
Over the past year, Israeli troops have carried out almost daily raids in Jenin and nearby Nablus, targeting Palestinian militants, but also civilians were killed, including children, such as schoolgirl Sadil Turkman, 15. Israel says the purpose of such raids is to stop the militants. groups planning and carrying out attacks against civilians in Israeli cities such as Tel Aviv and Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.
News of the raid was welcomed by far-right elements of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. coalition government demanding that he take a tougher stance against Palestinian militants in the West Bank.
«Proud of our heroes on all fronts and especially this morning of our soldiers operating in Jenin» — Itamar Ben. tweeted ultra-nationalist security minister Gvir. “I pray for their success.”
In a statement on Monday, the Jenin Brigades said: “We will fight the occupying [Israeli] forces to the last breath and bullet, and we are working together and united with all factions and military formations ”.
Hamdallah Afaneh, a Palestinian political and security analyst, said he suspects the operation had a significant political element, such as appeasement of the Israeli far-right and pro-settlement movements.
«The price is being paid by our children and youth…as usual,» he said.
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