The Israeli forces withdrew from the Palestinian city of Jenin on Tuesday, after carrying out one of the biggest military operations in the occupied West Bank. The two day military operation resulted in the death of twelve Palestinians and one Israeli soldier. According to Reuters, witnesses reported seeing convoys of Israeli military leave Jenin after dark, which seemed to signal an end to the operation which began early Monday. As they began withdrawing, five rockets were fired by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip toward Israel, however, these were intercepted and there were no immediate reports of casualties, the military said.
On Monday, the operation was launched with an aim to destroy militant infrastructure and weapons in the Jenin refugee camp, which was launched with a drone strike, and over a 1000 troops were deployed. Twelve Palestinians, at least five of them fighters, and one Israeli soldier had been killed.
Gunfire and explosions could still be heard amid reports of gunbattle near Jenin hospital. Palestinian health minister Mai al-Kaila accused the army of shooting at Palestinians in a courtyard of the Jenin public hospital.
“Israel’s aggression reached its climax this afternoon when citizens were shot at directly in the courtyard of Jenin hospital wounding three, two of them seriously,” the minister was quoted by The Guardian, further adding that they stormed Ibn Sina hospital.
Medical charity Doctors Without Borders also condemned Israeli forces for firing teargas inside Khalil Suleiman hospital in Jenin, calling it “unacceptable”. While the Israeli troops said they had no information about the hospital attacks, they did carry out airstrike at gunmen who posed a threat to the withdrawing army.
During a visit to an army base near Jenin, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to “uproot terrorism”.
"At this moment we are completing the mission, and I can say that our extensive activity in Jenin is not a one-time operation," Netanyahu said.
After they left, residents who had vacated the camp during the fighting began returning to its dark streets. Some surveyed the damage to the light of their mobile phones.
The densely populated refugee camp, where some 14,000 people live in less than half a square kilometre, has been one of the focal points of a wave of violence that has swept the West Bank for more than a year, drawing growing international alarm. The Palestinian Red Crescent said it had evacuated 500 families from the camp, around 3,000 people.
Power and water supplies remained cut off in the camp and in some areas of the city after bulldozers that ploughed up roads looking for improvised bombs cut cables and a main water pipe.
Israeli forces uncovered underground explosives caches, one concealed in a tunnel under a mosque, confiscated 1,000 weapons and arrested 30 suspects, the military said.