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‘Iron Wall’: Israeli Forces Enter Jenin in Large Counter-Terror Operation
Illustrative: Israeli military, Jenin area, West Bank, August 31, 2024. Photo: Israeli Army/Handout via REUTERS
JNS.org — Israeli security forces have launched a large-scale operation to destroy terrorist infrastructure in Jenin in the West Bank, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement on Tuesday afternoon.
Dubbed “Iron Wall,” the operation includes IDF troops, Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) officers, and Border Police, according to the military.
The IDF entered Jenin immediately after Palestinian Authority police officers left the area, according to Arab media reports. Earlier this week, it was reported that Ramallah struck a deal with the Iranian-backed Jenin Battalion terror coalition, ending a rare month-long PA operation in the city.
Israeli ground forces entered the city with the stated goal of preserving Jerusalem’s ability to swiftly act against terrorist groups in Jenin, known among Palestinians as the “Martyrs’ Capital” due to the significant number of suicide bombers that have emanated from the area.
Palestinian reports cited the PA Health Ministry as claiming that one person was killed in an airstrike shortly after the start of the operation. Arab media also reported wounded in firefights throughout the city.
On Monday, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi ordered the military to prepare for counter-terrorism operations throughout the West Bank amid an uptick in terror following the ceasefire in Gaza.
“In addition to the intense defensive preparations in the Gaza Strip, we must be prepared for significant operations in Judea and Samaria in the coming days in order to get ahead of and catch the terrorists before they reach our citizens,” Halevi stated following a situational assessment.
Halevi’s remarks came hours after one IDF soldier was killed and four others were injured, one seriously, by a roadside bomb in the Arab village of Tammun, northeast of Nablus (Shechem) in Samaria.
Concerns are also growing in Jerusalem that the release of hundreds of Palestinian terrorists as part of the ceasefire deal with Hamas — many of whom will be allowed to return to the West Bank and the eastern part of the country’s capital — has the potential to ignite more terror in the area.
The Israel Hayom daily reported that the counter-terror raid was first planned for December, but postponed at the request of the political echelon after the Palestinian Authority launched its Jenin operation.
“At the direction of the Security Cabinet, the IDF, Shin Bet, and Israel Police today launched a large and significant military operation to eradicate terror in Jenin — ‘Iron Wall,’” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement on Tuesday afternoon.
“This is another step towards the goal we have set — strengthening security in Judea and Samaria [the West Bank]. We are acting systematically and resolutely against the Iranian axis wherever its arms reach — in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Judea and Samaria.”
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the operation would be a “strong and ongoing campaign” aimed at protecting Israeli towns in the West Bank, which he called a “security belt” for the entire Jewish state.
“After Gaza and Lebanon, today, with God’s help, we have begun changing the security perception also in Judea and Samaria, in the campaign to eradicate terrorism in the region,” Smotrich said.
Hebrew media reported that four IDF battalions were participating in the operation in Jenin, amounting to several hundred ground troops, including elite commando soldiers, in addition to Israel Border Police forces. The military raid is expected to last at least several days.
The post ‘Iron Wall’: Israeli Forces Enter Jenin in Large Counter-Terror Operation first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.