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Tanks Enter Jenin Refugee Camp for 1st Time in Decades
An Israeli tank crosses the ceasefire line between Syria and the Israeli Golan Heights, Dec. 11, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Avi Ohayon
i24 News – Operations in the West Bank expand as Israeli tanks entered the northern West Bank on Sunday, the first time in more than 20 years that heavy armor has deployed to the region.
Following a security evaluation, the defense ministry decided to raise the level of IDF activity. The 188th Armored Brigade deployed in the area for the first time since Operation Defensive Shield in 2002. Simultaneously, a battalion of the Nahal Infantry Brigade and the elite Duvdevan Unit began operating in additional villages nearby.
The tanks will focus on the Jenin refugee camp, a hotbed of terrorism for years. They will mainly be used to protect infantry soldiers deploying into narrow alleyways, where local terrorist still exert control. In tandem, fighters of the 931st Battalion of the Nahal Brigade are operating in the Qabatiya refugee camp to the south, which is considered a sanctuary for terrorists fleeing from Jenin.
The entry of tanks into the area is an escalation in the fight against terrorism in the area, following persistent claims in recent years by the Central Command that there is no need for such heavy armored vehicles to respond to the terror threat in Jenin. The force deployed for the time being is symbolic, consisting of only one platoon. Instead of completing a substantial operational goal in the ongoing operation, the IDF seeks to send a conscious message.
Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed the report on i24NEWS, and announced that the IDF is preparing for a prolonged stay in the Jenin area. “The IDF is preparing to stay for the next year in the camps that have been cleaned – and not to allow the residents to come back and for terror to return and flourish. So far, 40,000 Palestinians have been evacuated from the refugee camps of Jenin, Tulkarem, and Nur al-Shams, which are now empty of residents. UNRWA’s activity in the camps has also been halted.”
The post Tanks Enter Jenin Refugee Camp for 1st Time in Decades first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Report: IDF Probes Whether Houthis Used Iranian Cluster Bomb-Bearing Missile
Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi addresses followers via a video link at the al-Shaab Mosque, formerly al-Saleh Mosque, in Sanaa, Yemen, Feb. 6, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
i24 News – The Israeli military said Saturday it launched a probe into the failure of its defenses to fully intercept a missile launched by Yemen’s Houthi jihadists, parts of which struck not far from the Ben Gurion airport on Friday night.
According to the Ynet website, one of the hypotheses being examined is that the projectile contained cluster munitions, similar to those used by Iran to fire at Israeli cities during the 12-day war in June. Cluster munitions pose a challenge to interceptors as they disperse smaller explosives over a wide area.
In June, Iran fired several missiles carrying scattered small bombs with the aim of increasing civilian casualties.
The IDF said on Saturday that its initial review suggests the ballistic missile from Yemen likely fragmented in mid-air. Five interceptors from various systems engaged with the missile, including THAAD, Arrow, David Sling & Iron Dome.
Authorities said that shrapnel impacted a house in the central Israeli moshav of Ginaton, yet no one was hurt, with the fragment landing in the house’s backyard.
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Iran Forces Kill Six Militants, IRNA Reports, Israel Link Seen
The Iranian flag is seen flying over a street in Tehran, Iran, Feb. 3, 2023. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Iranian security forces shot dead six militants in a clash in southeastern Iran on Saturday, a day after armed rebels killed five police officers in the restive region, the official news agency IRNA reported.
IRNA said evidence showed the group was linked to Israel and may have been trained by Israel‘s Mossad spy agency. There was no immediate Israeli reaction to the allegation.
Another two members of the militant group were arrested, the report said. All but one of the militants were foreign, it added, without giving their nationality.
Iranian police said this month they had arrested as many as 21,000 suspects during the 12-day war with Israel in June.
Iran’s southeast has been the scene of sporadic clashes between security forces and armed groups, including Sunni militants and separatists who say they are fighting for greater rights and autonomy.
Tehran says some of them have ties to foreign powers and are involved in cross-border smuggling and insurgency.
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Benny Gantz Urges Time-Limited National Unity Government to Further Chances of Hostage Deal
Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz attends his party’s meeting at the Knesset, Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, June 27, 2022. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – Blue and White Party leader Benny Gantz on Saturday called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition politicians to form a temporary national unity government to further the chances of bringing home the hostages held in Gaza.
Addressing Netanyahu, Yair Lapid and Avigdor Liberman, Gantz said that the proposed government’s two supreme priorities would be the release of Israeli hostages held by the jihadists of Hamas and instituting universal conscription in Israel by ending the exemption from military service enjoyed by the ultra-Orthodox.
Upon attainment of the goals, the government would dissolve and call an election.
“The government’s term will begin with a hostage deal that brings everyone home,” Gantz said in a video address. “Within weeks, we will formulate an enlistment outline that would see our ultra-Orthodox brethren drafted to the military and ease the burden on those already serving. Finally, we will announce an agreed-upon election date in the spring of 2026 and pass a law to dissolve the Knesset [Israeli parliament] accordingly. This is what’s right for Israel.”