The Israeli military began withdrawing troops from a terrorist stronghold in the West Bank late Tuesday, security officials said, winding down an intense two-day operation that killed at least 12 terrorists, confiscated hundreds of weapons, and left a wide swath of damage in its wake. But heavy fighting between Israeli troops and Palestinian terrorists continued in parts of the Jenin refugee camp, delaying the planned pullout.
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The development came hours after a Hamas terrorist rammed his car into a crowded Tel Aviv bus stop and began stabbing people, wounding eight, including a pregnant woman who reportedly lost her baby. The attacker was killed by an armed bystander. Hamas said the attack was revenge for the Israeli offensive.
Just after midnight, residents in the Jenin refugee camp said the army had left the area, and people began returning to the streets.
Adding to the tensions, the army said terrorists in the Gaza Strip launched five rockets into Israel. It said all of the rockets were intercepted, but the launches raised the risk of fighting on a second front. Israel typically responds to rocket fire with airstrikes on targets in Gaza.
The developments came hours after a Hamas militant rammed his car into a crowded Tel Aviv bus stop and began stabbing people, wounding eight, including a pregnant woman who reportedly lost her baby. The attacker was killed by an armed bystander. Hamas said the attack was revenge for the Israeli offensive.
Video: IDF fighter jets strike weapons facility in Gaza, Israeli military says / Reuters
Earlier Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated the West Bank operation, one of the most intense in the territory in nearly two decades, was nearing its end. But he vowed to carry out similar offensives in the future.
Visiting a military post outside Jenin, Israeli Netanyahu indicated the operation, one of the most intense in the territory in nearly two decades, was nearing its end. But he vowed to carry out similar operations in the future.
"At these moments we are completing the mission, and I can say that our extensive operation in Jenin is not a one-off," he said.
The Israeli military said it carried out an airstrike late Tuesday targeting a terrorist cell located in a cemetery. It said the terrorists threatened forces moving out of the camp. There was no immediate word on casualties.
Israeli and Palestinian officials also reported fighting near a hospital in Jenin late Tuesday. An Associated Press reporter on the ground could hear explosions and the sound of gunfire. Palestinian hospital officials told the official Wafa news agency that three civilians were hit by Israeli fire.
Israel struck the camp, known as a bastion of Palestinian terrorists, early Monday in an operation it said was aimed at destroying and confiscating weapons.
Big military bulldozers tore through alleyways, leaving heavy damage to roads and buildings, and thousands of residents fled the camp. People said electricity and water were knocked out. The army says the bulldozers were necessary because roads were booby-trapped with explosives.
The military said it had confiscated thousands of weapons, bomb-making materials, and caches of money. Weapons were found in terrorist hideouts and civilian areas alike, in one case beneath a mosque, the military said.
The large-scale raid comes amid a more than a yearlong spike in violence that has created a challenge for Netanyahu's far-right government, which is dominated by ultranationalists who have called for tougher action against Palestinian terrorists only to see the fighting worsen.
The office of the UN's human rights chief said the scale of the operation "raises a host of serious issues with respect to international human rights norms and standards, including protecting and respecting the right to life."
With airstrikes and a large presence of ground troops, the raid bore hallmarks of Israeli military tactics during the second Palestinian uprising in the early 2000s. But there are also differences. It's more limited in scope, with Israeli military operations focused on several strongholds of Palestinian terrorists.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a hard-line settler leader, rushed to the scene of Tuesday's attack in Tel Aviv.
"We knew that terror would raise its head," Ben-Gvir said. He praised the person who killed the attacker and called for arming more citizens, as he was heckled by an angry onlooker. The attacker was identified as a 20-year-old Palestinian man from the southern West Bank city of Hebron.
The Islamic terrorist group Hamas praised him as a "martyr fighter" and called the ramming "heroic and revenge for the military operation in Jenin." Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a terrorist group with a large presence in Jenin, also praised the assault. It was not immediately clear if the man was dispatched by Hamas or acted on his own.
In Jenin, rubble littered the streets, and columns of black smoke periodically rose above the skyline over the camp, which has been a flashpoint of Israeli-Palestinian violence for years.
Jenin Mayor Nidal Al-Obeidi said around 4,000 Palestinians, nearly one-third of the camp, had fled to stay with relatives or in shelters.
Kefah Ja'ayyasah, a camp resident, said soldiers forcibly entered her home and locked the family inside.
Across the West Bank, Palestinians observed a general strike to protest the Israeli raid. The Palestinian Health Ministry said Tuesday that the two-day death toll rose to 12. The Israeli military has claimed at least 10 were terrorists but did not provide details. There was no immediate information on the latest deaths.
The Palestinian self-rule government in the West Bank and three Arab countries with normalized ties with Israel – Jordan, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates – have condemned Israel's incursion, as did Saudi Arabia and the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
Israel has been carrying out near-daily raids in the West Bank in response to a series of deadly Palestinian attacks in early 2022. It says the raids are meant to crack down on Palestinian terrorists and thwart attacks.
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