CNN
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The IDF operation in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin is winding down but ‘not over’ until the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) say it is, a doorman says -spoke to CNN, as the United Nations expressed deep concern over the violence in the city. large refugee camp.
At least 12 people, aged 16 to 23, were killed and dozens more injured after Israeli forces launched operations in the camp this week, Palestinian officials said. Israel said it was targeting Palestinian terrorists and one of its soldiers was killed in the operation.
UNICEF, the UN children’s agency, has reported that at least three children have lost their lives, while many others have been injured in the ongoing clashes.
In an interview on CNN as the death toll rose to 11, IDF chief spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari claimed that no “non-combatants” had been killed during the attack. ‘incursion.
“We are now achieving our goals, inside Jenin, in fighting terror and dismantling terror in the Jenin camp,” Hagari said. “We achieve our objectives and when we achieve our objectives, the forces will come out of the camp.”
Video obtained by CNN shows Israeli military vehicles beginning to withdraw from the occupied West Bank city, as other vehicles are seen entering.
Even after the IDF’s initial announcement of the start of the withdrawal of their forces, military operations appeared to be continuing on Tuesday evening, with the IDF saying that an armed terrorist cell had been targeted by an IDF plane at a cemetery on the outskirts of the city of Jenin.
The operation was carried out because the gunmen “posed a threat to security forces emerging from the Jenin camp”, the IDF added.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian militant group Hamas said a car-ramming and stabbing attack in Tel Aviv on Tuesday was carried out by one of its fighters and was a response to the ongoing operation from Israel to Jenin.
Eight people were injured in the attack near a Tel Aviv shopping mall, according to Israeli officials, which saw the assailant exit the wrecked vehicle and continue to stab civilians.
UN human rights chief Volker Türk has called for an end to “killings, maimings and destruction of property”.
“The recent operation in the occupied West Bank and the vehicular attack in Tel Aviv ominously underscore an all-too-familiar pattern of events: this violence only breeds more violence,” a statement read.
“The scale of the ongoing operation by the Israeli security forces in Jenin, including the use of repeated airstrikes, as well as the destruction of property, raises a host of serious issues with respect to international norms and standards. relating to human rights, in particular the protection and respect of the right to life”, he added.
Türk said “some of the methods and weapons used during ISF operations [Israeli Security Forces] in the Jenin refugee camp and surrounding areas are more generally associated with the conduct of hostilities in the context of an armed conflict, rather than law enforcement.
He called on Israeli forces to “respect international human rights standards”, which “do not change just because the objective of the operation is declared to be ‘counter-terrorism'”.
A police spokesperson described the car that slammed into Pinchas Rosen Street in north Tel Aviv as a “terrorist attack” and told CNN the driver was killed by an armed civilian.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the attack, saying “anyone who thinks such an attack will deter us from continuing our fight against terrorism is mistaken. He simply does not know the spirit of the State of Israel, our government, our citizens and our soldiers.
In Jenin, a total of 117 people were injured in the refugee camp due to the ongoing IDF operation, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said on Tuesday. Of these injuries, 12 are reported as serious and 33 as moderate. The IDF had recognized civilians among the wounded.
Thousands of people are still outside their homes, having been evacuated overnight to avoid danger. The damage in the camp is extensive, with some roads destroyed when Israeli bulldozers disarmed IEDs, and extensive damage to homes and cars following the clashes.
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, the Palestinian Authority deputy prime minister, called on the United States to help defuse the situation, in an interview with CNN’s Eleni Giokos on Tuesday.
“The Americans should intervene because Israel should be stopped by the Americans, immediately. Otherwise, the situation is very risky, very dangerous for them and for us,” in an interview with CNN anchor Eleni Giokos on Tuesday.
Rudeineh said the “Israeli army was attacking Palestinian citizens” and added, “What happened yesterday was completely dangerous.”