Click to see full-size image. Source: the Israeli Defense Forces.
A fierce battle broke out in Jenin on March 7 when an Israeli force stormed the West Bank’s refugee camp to hunt down a Palestinian man blamed for a recent deadly shooting attack.
Palestinian officials said that the man, 49-year-old Abdel Fattah Hussein Kharousha, was killed in the operation. The Israeli Shin Bet security agency said that Kharousha, a Hamas member from the Askar refugee camp near Nablus, was the gunman who opened fire on an Israeli car in the northern West Bank town of Huwara on February 26, killing two Israelis.
The operation was carried out by a large force from the Israeli Defense Forces and Police, backed by several drones as well as attack helicopters.
A local wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Jenin said its fighters opened fire and also hurled explosives at the Israeli force in Jenin.
Palestinian fighters also shot down two Israeli drones. One of the drones was a military-grade Thor quadcopter that was developed by Flying Production, now a part of Israeli defense giant Elbit Systems, for reconnaissance operations. The drone offers a range of ten kilometers and an endurance of up to 75 minutes when equipped with a dual electro-optical/infrared light-weight payload.
According to Palestinian health officials, at least six people were killed in the battle, and another 12 were wounded, three seriously.
The Israeli Police said three officers of the elite Yamam counter-terrorism unit were wounded during the operation. They were taken to the Rambam hospital in Haifa. One of the wounded was listed in moderate condition, while the other two were slightly hurt.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the force that “eliminated the despicable terrorist who murdered the two brothers in cold blood.”
The operation led to tensions around the Gaza Strip. Just a few hours after the operation, a rocket that was launched from the Palestinian enclave landed in Israeli territory, close to the separation line.
Later on March 8 morning, Palestinians fighters set off an explosive device near Israeli soldiers operating on the line with Gaza. Israeli battle tanks fired shells at an observation post of the Hamas Movement, the de-facto ruler of the strip, in response to the attack.
The operation in Jenin was the most recent in a series of Israeli raids in West Bank cities that left dozens of Palestinians dead or wounded in the last few months. More escalation is to be expected not only in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, but also in Jerusalem.
