Middle East
During the night of Sunday to Monday, the refugee camp of Aqabat Jaber was the scene of an operation by the Israeli army, which left five people dead.
Located near the usually quiet city of Jericho, the camp housed, according to Israeli forces, a Hamas cell involved in a recent attempted attack.
It took place on Saturday, January 28, the day after the attack that killed seven people in an Israeli settlement neighborhood in East Jerusalem.
According to the army, that evening, two “
terrorists equipped with weapons and military jackets
” had arrived in front of a restaurant where about thirty people were dining.
They tried to fire but, their weapons having jammed, they had fled towards Jericho.
In the process, Hamas announced the existence of a cell, the "
battalion of Aqabat Jaber
", ready to carry out other attacks.
Since then, she was wanted.
Signs of protest
A first operation was carried out by the Israeli forces, during which thirteen Palestinians were injured.
It led to the arrest of several Palestinians but the Hamas cell was still operational according to the Israeli army, which says it was targeted by gunfire when it entered the camp on the night of Sunday to Monday.
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"
Our resistance will not be slow to respond to this crime
," Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said on Monday, while Ishmael Haniyeh, leader of the Islamist movement, affirmed that "
the heroes of the Aqabat camp Jaber fought until they died as martyrs to defend their land and their holy places
” and assured that “
the repeated killings committed by the enemy in the West Bank would turn into a disaster for them
”.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh also called the Israeli raid a "
major crime
".
On Monday, a strike was declared in the West Bank;
schools and shops were closed in protest against the Israeli operation.
For his part, Benyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, declared that “
the appropriate response to terrorism is to strike terrorism
”.
His Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, meanwhile, welcomed the operation, saying: "
Anyone who tries to attack the citizens of Israel must know that he will pay a heavy price for his activities, and that our security forces will seek him out wherever he is hiding.
The Israeli government will wage a stubborn and uncompromising war against terrorism and, with God's help, it will bring security to the citizens of Israel
.”
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This operation takes place in a context of great tension in the West Bank.
Since an Israeli army raid in Jenin, which killed nine people at the end of January, the Palestinian Authority has declared that it has broken off security cooperation with Israel.
The attacks in Jerusalem took place the following day.
According to an AFP report, since the beginning of the year, the conflict has claimed the lives of 41 Palestinians, 6 Israeli civilians and a Ukrainian woman.
The year 2022 had been the bloodiest since the end of the Second Intifada, with 235 dead, mostly Palestinians.
Tensions in the West Bank continue.
Le Figaro