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JENIN "COUNTER-TERROR OPERATION" BY IDF LEAVES 12 DEAD, ESCALATES CONFLICT
- jakefarrella
- Jul 7, 2023
- 2 min read
By Jake
7 July 2023
Starting 3 July 2023, "Operation Home and Garden" by the Israeli Defense Force intended to target militants in a refugee camp claimed twelve lives, destroyed infrastructure, and paved the way for further violence.
Sadly, the projections this blog reviewed back in March that 2023 would be a record-breaking year for violence in Israel and Palestine. Twelve Palestinians lay dead from a military operation in the northern West Bank, an IDF raid characterized by drone strikes, reinforced bulldozers, and long gunfights with Hamas militants. On 5 July 2023, a ramming attack in Tel Aviv by a Hamas affiliate injured seven, and was praised by Hamas as a "natural response" to the operation in Jenin.
Today, IDF forces have withdrawn from Jenin and Hamas is claiming victory. Yet analysts are stating that nobody will benefit from the newest spike in violence, claiming that the operation will provide further excuses for raids by the IDF, further reason internal Palestinian violence over the path to an independent state, further senseless destruction, and further suffering for civilians caught in the crossfire.
United National Secretary General Antonio Guterres stated “Israeli airstrikes and ground operations in a crowded refugee camp were the worst violence in the West Bank in many years, with a significant impact on civilians,” and when asked if the condemnation applied to both parties to the conflict, stated “It applies to all use of excessive force and obviously in this situation there was an excessive force used by Israeli forces.” The Israeli government not only submitted formal disagreement but demanded that the Secretary retract the statement for inaccuracies, which will almost certainly not happen.
As the funeral processions of the killed Palestinians occurred, a new generation in Jenin loses more faith with any actor encouraging dialogue and diplomatic solutions to their perceived occupation. Two worrying trends present themselves in the wake of the raid in Jenin: the willingness by Israel to continue new Israeli settlements in northern territory previously-agreed to be off-limits, and violent infighting between young West Bank militants and the Palestinian authority. Either provides ongoing opportunities for continued violence and escalation, and continued lack of trust in a land that should be treasured. ONE will continue its work to highlight cases where innocent lives and shared history are disregarded.
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