(C) Common Dreams
This story was originally published by Common Dreams and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
Israel Launches Biggest Air Attack on West Bank in Nearly Two Decades [1]
['Isabel Kershner']
Date: 2023-07-02
Israel launched its most intense airstrikes on the occupied West Bank in nearly two decades on Monday, and sent hundreds of ground troops into the narrow streets and alleys of the crowded Jenin refugee camp, saying it was trying to root out armed militants after a year of escalating violence there.
The Israeli military said the operation began shortly after 1 a.m. and included several missiles fired by drones, and the incursion by ground forces. Military officials said the operation was focused on militant targets in the densely populated refugee camp, an area of less than a quarter of a square mile abutting the city of Jenin, with about 17,000 residents.
At least eight Palestinians were killed, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
“The camp is a war zone in the full meaning of the word,” Muhammad Sbaghi, a member of the local committee that helps administer the Jenin camp, said after the operation began on Monday.
The military said a drone attack struck a joint operations center used by militants of a group known as the Jenin Brigade in the refugee camp, and that Israeli forces also targeted a facility for weapons production and explosive device storage. Gunfire echoed through the camp as Israeli troops and armored vehicles went in, and the military said they had located and confiscated caches of weapons, hundreds of explosive devices and an improvised rocket launcher.
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/02/world/middleeast/israel-west-bank-jenin.html
Published and (C) by Common Dreams
Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 3.0..
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/commondreams/
