Israeli forces launch helicopter raid on Jenin in occupied West Bank
The Israeli military has used combat helicopters in the occupied West Bank for the first time in years, as an arrest operation in Jenin encountered unexpectedly fierce Palestinian resistance.
The heavy fighting intensified calls by settler leaders to call for a broader military campaign in the West Bank.
The fighting raged until late afternoon, with five Palestinians killed, including a 15-year-old boy, and 91 injured, including 23 severely or critically, according to Palestinian health officials. One of those was a 15-year-old girl who Palestinian witnesses quoted by Israel’s Haaretz website, said was shot inside her house. A Palestinian journalist, Hazem Nasser, a freelance cameraman wearing press gear, was wounded, according to the Foreign Press Association.
The dead Palestinians were identified as Ahmed Saqr, 15, Qassam Abu Saraya, 29 who was claimed as a fighter by Islamic Jihad, Khaled Asasa, 21 and Qais Jabareen, 21.
Seven Israeli soldiers and militarised border police sustained light to moderate injuries, according to an army spokesperson.
Israel’s Kan public broadcaster said late on Monday afternoon that all remaining soldiers had been successfully withdrawn from Jenin.
Violence in the West Bank territory occupied by Israel during the 1967 Middle East war has worsened since early last year when Israel began mounting repeated army raids after a spate of Palestinian attacks. One hundred and twenty-three Palestinians and at least 21 Israelis have died, according to the Associated Press.
Monday’s fighting seemed to be particularly serious, with senior Palestinian official Hussein al-Sheikh accusing Israel of waging “fierce and open war” against the Palestinian people. Palestinian politician Mustafa Barghouti predicted that Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, the most rightwing in Israeli history, could escalate to the use of fighter aircraft in the West Bank.
Monday’s raid clearly did not go as planned from an Israeli point of view. The entry of troops triggered a massive exchange of fire with gunmen, during which, according to the military, “hits” were identified. “As the security forces exited the city, a military vehicle was hit by an explosive device, damaging the vehicle.”
The army spokesperson said helicopters were called in and opened fire at Palestinian gunmen in order to help extract soldiers. Israeli media reports said it was the first use of combat helicopters in the West Bank since the second intifada uprising, which ended in 2005.
“Helicopters had to be called in because of the unexpected results of the raid, soldiers being wounded and an armoured vehicle getting blown up,” said Menachem Klein, professor emeritus at Bar-Ilan University and a visiting professor in the war studies department at King’s College London. Despite the devastating casualty toll, Palestinian militants will not be deterred by the raid and may even consider their fight on Monday a kind of victory given the imbalance of power, he predicted.
Klein added that with settlers pressing the government in which they command heavy influence for an all out incursion, it is likely the army will in the near future mount a major operation in Jenin and keep troops there for at least a few days.
Bezalel Smotrich, a far-right leader, posted on Twitter during Monday’s fighting that “the time has come to replace the tweezer operations with a wide ranging campaign to eradicate the nests of terror”.