Israel’s army launches major operation in the West Bank

Israel’s army began a major operation in the occupied West Bank overnight. According to the military, anti-terror operations are underway in the northern cities of Jenin and Tulkarem, which are considered strongholds of militant Palestinians. According to media reports, the army deployed drones and snipers in addition to numerous infantrymen, destroyed infrastructure with bulldozers and blocked all access routes to Jenin.

Two people were shot dead and several others injured in Jenin, the Health Ministry in Ramallah said. The Palestinian news agency Wafa later reported two more deaths in an Israeli military drone attack on a refugee camp near the town of Tubas – and then another three deaths in another drone attack on a vehicle south of Jenin. It remained unclear whether those killed were Palestinian militants. The army initially did not provide any detailed information about its operation.

According to reports, this is a large-scale military operation, with Al-Jazeera even speaking of the largest such operation by the Israeli army in the north of the West Bank in more than 20 years. According to the Arab broadcaster, Palestinians attacked the soldiers with firearms and explosives in the refugee district of Nur Shams in Tulkarem, among other places. Clashes also took place in other towns in the West Bank.

Israel’s army is said to have surrounded hospitals

The Wafa agency reported that a large number of military vehicles had entered Jenin. According to Al-Jazeera, the city was completely sealed off. According to the Israeli news site ynet, people wanted by the security forces were to be arrested in refugee quarters in Jenin and Tulkarem.

According to Israeli and Palestinian media, the security forces also surrounded hospitals in both cities and blocked ambulances. The army is controlling access to the hospital buildings to prevent militants from entrenching themselves there, reported “ynet”.

The already tense situation in the West Bank has worsened significantly since the Hamas massacre that left 1,200 people dead on October 7, 2023, and the resulting start of the Gaza war. Since then, according to figures from the Ministry of Health in Ramallah that are difficult to independently verify, more than 620 Palestinians have been killed there in Israeli military operations, armed clashes and attacks by extremists.

There are repeated raids by the Israeli army, especially in Jenin and Tulkarem. According to the Ministry of Health, just on Monday five people were killed in an Israeli air raid in the refugee district of Nur Shams in Tulkarem. According to the Israeli army, the bombing was aimed at militant Palestinians.

Amnesty International calls for EU sanctions against Israel

Violent acts by Israeli settlers against Palestinians have also increased since the October massacre. Amnesty International is extremely critical of Israel’s settlement policy and is calling for tough European sanctions shortly before new EU consultations on the Middle East conflict.

In a letter to the foreign ministers of the 27 member states and the EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, the human rights organization advocates a comprehensive arms embargo and a ban on investments in certain Israeli companies and banks. In addition, trade in goods from Israeli settlements in occupied territories should be banned across the EU. The occupation of the Palestinian territories is illegal and must be ended as soon as possible – this is stated in an opinion published by the International Court of Justice in July.

Reports of Israeli drone attack in Lebanon

While there are repeated clashes between Israel’s army and militant Palestinians in the West Bank, there are almost daily confrontations with the Hezbollah militia and other groups in the border area with Lebanon – with deaths on both sides. Now Lebanese security sources and the Hezbollah-affiliated television station Al-Manar reported a suspected Israeli drone attack on a truck in northeast Lebanon, around 100 kilometers from the border.

According to eyewitnesses, explosions occurred after the attack; it was said that the truck may have been carrying weapons for Hezbollah. According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, one person was injured. The area is considered a stronghold of the Shiite Hezbollah militia. There was initially no reaction from Israel to the incident.

Hostage freed from tunnel after apparently days-long search

A glimmer of hope amid the ongoing violence in the Middle East was provided by the liberation of a hostage of the Islamist Hamas by Israeli special forces on Tuesday. According to the army, the soldiers found Kaid Farhan Alkadi unguarded in one of the many Hamas tunnels under the Gaza Strip. They had previously combed the underground tunnel system for days, reported the Wall Street Journal, citing a military representative. The newspaper Haaretz, citing the army, reported that Alkadi heard the soldiers during the operation and called out to them.

It is the first time that Israeli forces have been able to rescue a hostage alive from a Hamas tunnel. The seven previously freed hostages had been rescued by security forces from houses in the Gaza Strip at great cost in life.

The now freed hostage, a 52-year-old Bedouin, is currently being treated in hospital and is in good health according to Israeli sources. Relatives described him as emaciated after their reunion. He is said to have barely seen daylight in the tunnel and also witnessed a hostage dying next to him.

Israeli politicians and relatives expressed great joy at his return after 326 days of being held hostage. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Yitzhak Herzog spoke to Alkadi on the phone, who, according to Herzog’s office, told the politicians: “Do everything you can to bring the people home. Work 24 hours a day and don’t sleep until they come back.” The hostages suffered greatly, “you can’t imagine it.”

According to Israeli sources, Alkadi was kidnapped on October 7 from a kibbutz on the border with the Gaza Strip, where he worked as a security guard. According to Israeli media, he has 11 children.

Efforts to achieve a ceasefire continue

In total, Palestinian terrorists kidnapped more than 250 people from Israel to the coastal region on October 7 last year. After the release of dozens of hostages, Hamas is believed to still have 108 abductees in its power, according to Israeli counts. How many of them are still alive is unclear.

Meanwhile, fighting in the Gaza Strip continues, as do efforts to reach a ceasefire and release the remaining hostages. According to Israeli media reports, an Israeli delegation is scheduled to travel to Doha for further talks on an agreement with Hamas. The indirect negotiations, in which Qatar, Egypt and the USA are mediating between the conflicting parties, have been at a standstill for months.