Israeli forces withdraw from Jenin, step up raids in other West Bank areas
Al Jazeera
Palestinians start clearing wreckage in Jenin after the Israeli military’s 10-day assault leaves trail of destruction.
The Israeli military has withdrawn from the occupied West Bank city of Jenin and its refugee camp after a military offensive that killed many and destroyed critical infrastructure.
The Palestinian news agency Wafa confirmed on Friday that Israeli forces had pulled out of the city following a 10-day siege, but residents feared soldiers would return after temporarily moving to surrounding military checkpoints.
At least 21 Palestinians, including children and the elderly, have been killed in Jenin over the last few days, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said in a statement on Friday, and at least 130 more were injured.
The Israeli military said on Friday that its forces had been “conducting counterterrorism activity in the area of Jenin”, without confirming the withdrawal.
It said in a statement that it killed 14 “terrorists” and arrested more than 30 “suspects” in Jenin during the siege, and claimed to have destroyed about 30 explosives, as well as an underground weapons stockpile located under a mosque and a laboratory for the production of explosives.
