2024 Israeli military operation in the West Bank | |||||
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Part of the Israeli incursions in the West Bank during the Israel–Hamas war | |||||
The West Bank in 2024, with the Palestinian enclaves in green and the Israeli settlements in light blue | |||||
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Belligerents | |||||
Israel |
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Commanders and leaders | |||||
Unknown |
Wassem Hazem † Abu Shujaa † | ||||
Units involved | |||||
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al-Qassam Brigades Al-Quds Brigades Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades Tulkarm Brigade Jenin Brigades Khalil al-Rahman Brigade[5] | ||||
Casualties and losses | |||||
2 IDF soldiers killed,[7][8][6]3 wounded[6] 3 police officers killed[9] 3 settlers killed,[10]3 wounded[11] 2+ armoured vehicles damaged[12] |
At least 19 insurgents killed[13][14] | ||||
At least 51 Palestinians killed, 1 foreign activist killed[a][19][20][21] (including a woman, a disabled person, a UNRWA staff, two elderly people and several children)[22][23][24] At least 150 wounded[25] |
Since 28 August 2024, Israel has launched a large-scale military operation in the occupied West Bank.[26][27][28]
It is Israel's largest military operation in the West Bank in more than 20 years since its Operation Defensive Shield in 2002,[29] and is a significant escalation of the continual Israeli incursions into the region against Palestinian militants during the ongoing Israel–Hamas war. Israel calls it "Operation Summer Camps" (Hebrew: מבצע מחנות קיץ),[30][31][32] while Palestinian militants have labeled their response as the "Horror of the Camps" (Arabic: رعب المخيمات) operation.[33][34]
Israel says its goal is to stop Palestinian militant activity in the West Bank, whereas Palestinians feel that this could be an expansion of the war that aims to expel them out of the territories they aim to establish a state on.[35] Israel also says the raids are aimed to thwart Palestinian suicide bombings, following a failed attempt in Tel Aviv.[36]
The Israeli operation has resulted in the deaths of several militants, including Abu Shujaa, leader of the Tulkarm Brigade, who was wanted by Israel for his involvement in violent attacks against Israeli targets.[37] This was followed by the killing of Wissam Khazem, Hamas's head in Jenin.[38]
Israel's military operation occurs as Israeli settler violence targeting Palestinian infrastructure and civilians in the West Bank has surged.[27] More than 650 Palestinians in the West Bank, including gunmen and civilians were killed since the Hamas-led October 7 attacks, which began the ongoing war, while 27 Israelis, including both civilians and security forces were killed in Palestinian attacks within Israel and the West Bank.[36][39][40]
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Arabic spokesman Avichay Adraee announced a counterterrorism operation called "Summer Camps" in a joint statement with the Shin Bet.[41][42] Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz stated that the operation was a "full-fledged war" focused on stamping out "terrorist infrastructures", accusing Iran of trying to establish an "eastern terrorist front" against Israel in the West Bank by funding and arming local militants.[29][43] The Israeli operation came about following a failed suicide bombing in Tel Aviv by a Hamas operative, and calls by Hamas for the renewal of suicide attacks.[36][improper synthesis?]
Hundreds of troops from the IDF,[41][44] as well as bulldozers and air support, began operating in Tulkarm and Jenin.[28] Operations were also reported in al-Fara'a refugee camp, near Tubas. Entry points into Tulkarm and Jenin were blocked off by the IDF, which also encircled two hospitals in Tulkarm.[28]
The IDF killed Muhammad Jabber, known as Abu Shujaa, who led the Tulkarm Brigade, based in Nur Shams. He was wanted by Israel for his involvement in planning and executing multiple attacks against Israeli targets, including the June 2024 shooting of an Israeli civilian.[37][27]
Hamas and PIJ in Tulkarm and Jenin targeted IDF troops operating in these cities with ambushes and explosives.
The IDF withdrew from the al-Fara'a refugee camp, claiming they completed "the objective of foiling terror, exposing terrorist infrastructure and eliminating armed terrorists".[45]
The IDF also withdrew from Tulkarm.[46][47]
Israeli Border Police forces killed Wassem Hazem, the head of Hamas in Jenin, near the town of Zababdeh.[45][48][38] The Jenin Brigades reported "fierce clashes" with Israeli soldiers inside Jenin.[49]
Two car bombs were used to attack Israeli settlements near Hebron.[50]
The IDF announced that a squad commander of the Bislamach Brigade's 906th Battalion was killed and three others were injured during a shootout with two Hamas fighters in Jenin. Both militants were also killed.[6]
The family of a 10-year-old girl accused the IDF of using her as a human shield.[51]
The Khalil al-Rahman Brigade, a minor Palestinian militant group, killed three Israeli police officers who were driving near Hebron.[52][53][54]
The IDF reentered Tulkarm.[47]
A Palestinian girl, Lujain Musleh, aged 16, was reportedly shot dead by the Israeli military in Kafr Dan when she looked out of her home's window; the Israeli military responded that "terrorists opened fire at IDF soldiers in the area, and in response the soldiers fired back at a suspect who observed the forces in the area, in order to remove a threat".[55]
Turkish-American female activist Aysenur Eygi, aged 26, was reportedly shot and killed at a protest at Beita, Nablus. Witnesses accused the Israeli military of shooting Eygi in the head. The IDF said that it "responded with fire toward a main instigator of violent activity who hurled rocks at the forces and posed a threat to them."[56]
The IDF withdrew from Jenin, Tulkarm, and their refugee camps.[47][57][58] Following the Israeli withdrawal from Jenin, militants were seen parading through the city.[59]
There was speculation that the withdrawals signified the operation had concluded, but Israel clarified that it was not over and that its forces would continue military actions "in order to achieve the objectives of the counterterrorism operation".[57][60][61]
The IDF returned to operate inside Tulkarm and its surrounding refugee camps.[62][63][64]
An Israeli airstrike near Tubas killed 5 people.[65]
It was reported that the Palestinian Authority agreed to a new security deal with Israel that could see its National Security Forces fighting alongside the IDF in the operation.[66]
UN secretary general António Guterres, called for Israel to end its operations in the West Bank.[36] UN secretary general spokesman said Israel should "exercise maximum restraint and use lethal force only when it is strictly unavoidable to protect life."[36] The Israeli ambassador to the UN, responded by saying that Israel will not wait for suicide bombings, adding that bombs were being smuggled in by Iran.[36] The United States called for Israel to protect civilians in the West Bank during its operations, and recognized Israeli security reasoning for the operation.[36] In a social media post, the UN Human Rights Office stated it was "appalled" by reports that Israel had "shot and unlawfully killed" three children in Jenin.[67]
Hamas called for Palestinians in the West Bank to rise up and blamed the escalation on United States support for Israel. It also called on the Palestinian Authority's security forces to join the fighting against Israel. The Palestinian Authority condemned the operation and called on the United States to intervene.[68]
Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad say at least 14 of the dead were members of their armed wings.
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Israel says the military aircraft targeted Palestinian fighters who "posed a threat" to their forces in Tubas.
The Israeli army has released a statement saying it killed 14 "terrorists" and arrested more than 30 "suspects" in Jenin, during a siege that lasted 10 days.
One woman killed in Nablus
Ahmed Omar Azqili, 43, has died due to critical wounds he sustained from Israeli gunfire in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin about a month ago, the Palestinian Ministry of Health says.
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At least 19 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the Israeli operation, which is one of the biggest in the West Bank in two decades, according to the Palestinian health ministry. But the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa) said children and one person with disabilities were reportedly among the dead.
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"Seven children and two elderly people were among the victims," the ministry added in a statement.
At least 150 people have been wounded, it said.
The Palestinian Health Ministry says over 650 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since the start of the war. Most appear to have been militants killed in gunbattles during Israeli operations like the one this week, but civilian bystanders and rock-throwing protesters have also been killed, and the territory saw a surge of Jewish settler violence.
In the first three weeks of August, according to UN figures, 128 Palestinians, including 26 children, were killed by airstrikes in the West Bank. A spokesperson for the UN Human Rights Office, Ravina Shamdasani, said that the IDF operations risked "seriously deepening the already catastrophic situation", and that two of the dead were reportedly children, bringing the overall death toll in the West Bank since 7 October to 637.
The Israeli military said its forces killed the commander of the Tulkarem Battalion, Mohamed Jaber, also known as Abu Shuja'a, and four other Palestinian fighters in a firefight in the Nur Shams refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.