JENIN, West Financial institution — A Hamas militant drove his automobile right into a crowded bus cease in Tel Aviv on Tuesday and started stabbing individuals, wounding eight in an assault praised by Palestinian militant teams as a response to Israel’s ongoing army operation within the occupied West Financial institution.
Police chief Kobi Shabtai advised reporters that an armed civilian shot and killed the assailant.
The assault got here as Israeli troops pressed forward with their hunt for Palestinian militants and weapons within the Jenin refugee camp, after army bulldozers tore by alleys and hundreds of residents fled to security. The 2-day Palestinian loss of life toll rose to 10.
The big-scale raid, which started Monday, was one of the intense army operations within the occupied West Financial institution in almost 20 years and comes amid a greater than a yearlong spike in violence. Greater than 140 Palestinians have been killed this yr within the West Financial institution, and Palestinian assaults focusing on Israelis have killed a minimum of 26 individuals.
The raid bore hallmarks of Israeli army techniques throughout the second Palestinian rebellion within the early 2000s and got here as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces rising stress from his ultranationalist political allies for a tricky response to current assaults on Israeli settlers, together with a taking pictures final month that killed 4 individuals.
However the present violence can be totally different from the extreme years of what was generally known as the second intifada, a interval that claimed hundreds of lives. It’s extra restricted in scope, with Israeli army operations centered on a number of strongholds of Palestinian militants.
The Israeli military stated that fewer than 10 targets remained in its Jenin operation however gave no indication how lengthy it could take to finish. Israel’s Channel 12 TV station quoted army officers as saying they anticipated to wrap up the offensive inside 24 hours.
Islamist militant group Hamas praised the Tel Aviv attacker as a “martyr fighter” and stated the assault was “heroic and revenge for the army operation in Jenin.” It was not instantly clear if the attacker was dispatched by the group or acted on his personal. Islamic Jihad, a militant group with a big presence in Jenin, additionally praised the assault.
Israeli’s inside safety company, the Shin Guess, recognized the attacker as a Palestinian from the West Financial institution with no prior safety report. Shabtai, the police chief, stated that a number of individuals related to the person have been arrested however didn’t present particulars.
Israel’s hard-line nationwide safety minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, rushed to the scene of assault. “We knew that terror would elevate its head,” he stated. He praised the civilian for killing the attacker and referred to as for arming extra residents with weapons, as he was heckled by an indignant onlooker.
Earlier within the day, rubble littered the streets of Jenin and there have been stories of injury to retailers. Columns of black smoke periodically punctuated the skyline over the camp, which together with an adjoining city of the identical title has been a flashpoint since Israeli-Palestinian violence started escalating in spring 2022. It was additionally a hotbed of Palestinian militant exercise within the rebellion within the early 2000s.
Jenin Mayor Nidal Al-Obeidi stated that round 4,000 Palestinians had fled the Jenin refugee camp, discovering lodging within the houses of relations and in shelters. Residents stated there was no water or electrical energy within the camp.
Throughout the West Financial institution, Palestinians noticed a common strike to protest the Israeli raid.
The Palestinian Well being Ministry stated Tuesday that the two-day loss of life toll rose to 10, with two extra deaths reported in a single day. The Israeli army has claimed all have been militants, however didn’t present particulars.
Throughout Tuesday’s operations, the army stated it seized weapons and explosives and demolished tunnels beneath a mosque within the refugee camp. Israeli media reported that the military had arrested a minimum of 120 suspected Palestinian militants since Monday.
A spokesman for the Israeli army, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, stated Monday that Israel had launched the operation as a result of some 50 assaults over the previous yr had emanated from Jenin.
The Palestinian self-rule authorities within the West Financial institution and three Arab nations with normalized ties with Israel – Jordan, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates – condemned Israel’s incursion, as did the 57-nation Group of Islamic Cooperation.
Israel says the raids are supposed to crack down on Palestinians militants and thwart assaults. The Palestinians say such violence is inevitable within the absence of any political course of with Israel and elevated West Financial institution settlement building and violence by extremist settlers.
Israel says most of these killed have been militants, however stone-throwing youths protesting the incursions and other people uninvolved in confrontations have additionally died.
Israel captured the West Financial institution, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip within the 1967 Mideast battle. The Palestinians search these territories for his or her hoped-for impartial state.