JENIN: A Palestinian official reported shooting and explosions in the flashpoint West Bank town of Jenin on Wednesday as Israeli forces pressed a raid that the military described as a “counterterrorism” operation.
“The situation is very difficult,” Kamal Abu Al-Rub, the governor of Jenin, told AFP.
“The occupation army has bulldozed all the roads leading to the Jenin camp, and leading to the Jenin Governmental Hospital... There is shooting and explosions,” he added.
On Tuesday, Israeli forces launched an operation in Jenin which Palestinian officials said killed 10 people, just days after a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect in the Gaza Strip.
According to Abu Al-Rub, Israeli forces detained around 20 people from villages near Jenin, a bastion of Palestinian militancy.
The Israeli military said it had launched a “counterterrorism operation” in the area, and had “hit over 10 terrorists.”
“Additionally, aerial strikes on terror infrastructure sites were conducted and numerous explosives planted on the routes by the terrorists were dismantled,” it said in a statement on Wednesday.
“The Israeli forces are continuing the operation.”
Defense Minister Israel Katz vowed to continue the assault.
“It is a decisive operation aimed at eliminating terrorists in the camp,” Katz said in a statement on Wednesday, adding that the military would not allow a “terror front” to be established there.
On Tuesday, the Israeli military and the Shin Bet security agency announced that, in coordination with the Border Police, they had launched an operation named “Iron Wall” in the area.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the raid aimed to “eradicate terrorism” in Jenin.
He linked the operation to a broader strategy of countering Iran “wherever it sends its arms — in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen,” and the West Bank.
The Israeli government has accused Iran, which supports armed groups across the Middle East, including Hamas in Gaza, of attempting to funnel weapons and funds to militants in the West Bank.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for “maximum restraint” from Israeli security forces and expressed deep concern, according to his deputy spokesman, Farhan Haq.
Jenin and its refugee camp are known strongholds of Palestinian militant groups, and Israeli forces frequently carry out raids targeting armed factions in the area.
Violence has surged throughout the occupied West Bank since the Gaza war erupted on October 7, 2023.
According to the Palestinian health ministry, Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 848 Palestinians in the West Bank since the Gaza conflict began.
Meanwhile, at least 29 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations in the territory during the same period, according to official Israeli figures.
Shooting, explosions in Jenin as Israel presses raid
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Shooting, explosions in Jenin as Israel presses raid
- Operation takes place days after ceasefire between Israel, Hamas took effect in Gaza
- UN Secretary-General Guterres calls for “maximum restraint” from Israeli security forces
Trump taps Tony Blair, US military head for Gaza
- Blair is a controversial choice in the Middle East because of his role in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and Trump himself said last year that he wanted to make sure he was an “acceptable choice to everybody”
- The plan’s second phase is now underway, though clouded by allegations of aid shortages and violence
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Friday gave a key role in post-war Gaza to former British prime minister Tony Blair and appointed a US officer to lead a nascent security force.
Trump named members of a board to help supervise Gaza that was dominated by Americans, as he promotes a controversial vision of economic development in a territory that lies in rubble after two-plus years of relentless Israeli bombardment.
The step came after a Palestinian committee of technocrats meant to govern Gaza held its first meeting in Cairo which was attended by Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law who plays a key role on the Middle East.
Trump has already declared himself the chair of a “Board of Peace” and on Friday announced its full membership that will include Blair as well as senior Americans — Kushner, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Steve Witkoff, Trump’s business partner turned globe-trotting negotiator.
Blair is a controversial figure in the Middle East because of his role in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Trump himself said last year that he wanted to make sure Blair was an “acceptable choice to everybody.”
Blair spent years focused on the Israeli-Palestinian issue as representative of the “Middle East Quartet” — the United Nations, European Union, United States and Russia — after leaving Downing Street in 2007.
The White House said the Board of Peace will take on issues such as “governance capacity-building, regional relations, reconstruction, investment attraction, large-scale funding and capital mobilization.”
Trump, a real-estate developer, has previously mused about turning devastated Gaza into a Riviera-style area of resorts, although he has backed away from calls to forcibly displace the population.
The other members of the board are World Bank President Ajay Banga, an Indian-born American businessman; billionaire US financier Marc Rowan; and Robert Gabriel, a loyal Trump aide who serves on the National Security Council.
Israel strikes
Israel’s military said Friday it had again hit the Gaza Strip in response to a “blatant violation” of the ceasefire declared in October.
The strikes come despite Washington announcing that the Gaza plan had gone on to a second phrase — from implementing the ceasefire to disarming Hamas, whose October, 2023 attack on Israel prompted the massive Israeli offensive.
Trump on Friday named US Major General Jasper Jeffers to head the International Stabilization Force, which will be tasked with providing security in Gaza and training a new police force to succeed Hamas.
Jeffers, from special operations in US Central Command, in late 2024 was put in charge of monitoring a ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel, which has continued periodic strikes aimed at Hezbollah militants.
The United States has been searching the world for countries to contribute to the force, with Indonesia an early volunteer.
But diplomats expect challenges in seeing countries send troops so long as Hamas does not agree to disarm fully.
