Israel Launches Military Operation in West Bank

21 January, 2025 Eitan APC in the war against Hamas, November 2023. Photo credits: Israel Defense Forces Israeli troops have launched the Iron Wall Operation in the West Bank in the city of Jenin.

This was announced by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. According to the order of the Cabinet of Security and Defense, the Israeli Defense Forces (Tzahal), the Israeli Security Service (Shin Bet) and local police launched a large-scale operation to eliminate the terrorist threat in the town. "We are acting systematically and decisively against the Iranian axis in all regions where it is spreading its influence - in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Judea-Samaria. And this is just the beginning," Netanyahu stated.

The city of Jenin and its province.

Source: Wikimapia.

The city of Jenin is under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority. In 2005, four Israeli settlements were evacuated from there as part of Israel's unilateral disengagement plan. Since December 2024, the Palestinian Authority has been in confrontation with the militants of the Jenin Brigades in this city.

On July 3, 2023, Israeli troops conducted a large-scale assault on a refugee camp in the city as part of Operation Home and Garden. At the time, the Israeli government stated that the operation aimed to eliminate militants in the camp. The Israeli army claimed to have discovered three weapons production facilities and confiscated caches of weapons and explosives.

Merkava Mk.4 tanks of the Israel Defense Forces.

Illustrative photo.

Ceasefire with Hamas

Recently, on January 15, it was reported that Israel and the Hamas group had agreed to cease hostilities in the Gaza Strip and to conduct a partial exchange of hostages. According to the BBC, the agreement on a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages was reached at meetings between the Prime Minister of Qatar and representatives of Hamas and separately with representatives of Israel. According to the agreement, Hamas and its affiliated militant groups are expected to release 33 hostages taken from Israel during the attacks on October 7, 2023.

An Israeli Puma armored personnel carrier and Merkava Mk.4M tanks move among destroyed buildings in the northern Gaza Strip, September 1, 2023.

In response, Israel will release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

Prisoners deemed responsible for the killing of Israelis will not be released in the West Bank, but in the Gaza Strip or abroad in accordance with agreements with foreign states.

At the first stage, the Israeli military will begin withdrawing from populated areas, but will remain along the border between Gaza and Egypt, known as the Philadelphia Corridor.

This 14-kilometer-long, 100-meter-wide section of the demilitarized zone was established under the 1979 peace treaty between Israel and Egypt.