- Car-Ramming and Stabbing Attack in Tel Aviv Leaves Seven Injured
- Israeli Army’s Operation in Jenin: Deaths, Detentions, and Displacement
- International Reactions and Calls for Restraint amid Escalating Violence in the West Bank
On the second day of Israel’s largest military operation in years in the occupied West Bank, a car-ramming and stabbing incident in Tel Aviv left seven persons injured before a suspect was shot and killed.
Hamas called the “heroic” incident “an initial response to crimes against our people in the Jenin camp.” Where Israeli forces murdered ten individuals on Monday during a “counterterrorism” operation.
The driver was believed to have intentionally struck several pedestrians on a Tel Aviv shopping thoroughfare before exiting the vehicle to “stab civilians with a sharp object,” according to police.
Police commander Yaakov Shabtai said a West Bank resident shot and killed him.
The development occurred as the army continued its operation in the northern West Bank stronghold of Jenin. Which had left 10 Palestinians dead, over 100 in detention, and thousands displaced from their homes.
An AFP correspondent reported that explosions were audible from the camp on Tuesday and that a drone hovered overhead.
Hundreds of troops, along with drone strikes and army bulldozers that tore up streets and crushed vehicles, participated in the Jenin raid, which began early on Monday morning under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government.
“This is the worst raid in the past five years,” said Qasem Benighader, a mortuary nurse.
Netanyahu asserted that Israeli forces were “destroying command centers and seizing significant arms” in the densely populated Jenin refugee camp.
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs referred to the escalation as an “open war against the people of Jenin.”
“Isolated from the world”
Tuesday, the shops of Jenin were closed due to a general strike. And the streets were littered with detritus and burned roadblocks.
The Israeli army asserted that it had discovered militant hideouts, weapons depots, and a tunnel used to store explosives.
The Israeli army said 120 Palestinian suspects were arrested and 300 armed militants were hiding in Jenin.
The army stated that it does not intend to remain in the camp but is prepared for protracted combat.
The northern West Bank has recently been the target of a series of attacks and Jewish settler violence against Palestinians.
Since the beginning of last year, the Israel-Palestinian conflict has worsened and has continued to escalate under Netanyahu’s coalition government, which includes far-right allies.
Kamal Abu al-Roub, the deputy governor of Jenin, stated that approximately 3,000 people had evacuated their homes in the refugee camp and would be housed in schools and other shelters.
According to the United Nations, the military operation also disrupted water and electricity to “large areas” of the refugee camp, a densely populated urban area containing approximately 18,000 people.
Imad Jabarin, one of those fleeing the rubble-strewn camp, stated, “Every aspect of existence has been obliterated. There is no electricity and no communications… We are somewhat shut off from the rest of the world.
‘Strengthen settlements’
A spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also stated that he is “deeply concerned” about the violence and exhorted respect for international humanitarian law.
The United States asserted that its ally Israel had the right to “defend its people against” but demanded that civilians be protected.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of the United Kingdom implored Israeli forces to “exercise restraint in their operations and for all parties to avoid further escalation in both the West Bank and Gaza.”
In the blockaded Gaza Strip, demonstrators torched tires near the Israeli border fence.
The West Bank has been occupied by Israel since the Six-Day War of 1967.
Excluding annexed east Jerusalem, approximately 490,000 Israelis reside in settlements deemed illegal under international law.
The Palestinians, who seek their own independent state, demand that Israel withdraw from all of the territory it annexed in 1967 and eliminate all Jewish settlements.
Netanyahu has committed to “strengthen settlements” and has shown no interest in reviving peace talks, which have stalled since 2014.
AFP counted 188 Palestinians, 25 Israelis, one Ukrainian, and one Italian killed this year.
Pakistan condemns Israeli incursions
Pakistan has also condemned Israel’s recent raids and airstrikes in Jenin in the “strongest terms possible.
“This most recent incident of violence against the occupied Palestinian population by the occupying power must cease immediately.
On Tuesday, the Foreign Office called for international protection of Palestinian human rights.
