3 months into major Jenin operation, IDF signals gains as residents face ruin
With over 100 terror operatives killed and hundreds arrested, Israel claims campaign improving security, as much of Jenin refugee camp remains decimated
Stav Levaton is a military reporter for The Times of Israel
JENIN REFUGEE CAMP, West Bank — More than three months into an Israeli military operation dubbed Operation Iron Wall, troops remain entrenched in the northern West Bank, with the Israel Defense Forces touting the extended counterterrorism campaign as an operational success.
The IDF initiated the operation in January, with some officials saying it would likely last just a few days. However, it took troops some two weeks to secure control of the Jenin refugee camp, military officials told reporters during a tour of Jenin on Wednesday.
Most of the Palestinian civilians in the camp have evacuated, allowing Israeli troops to search and clear each individual building of infrastructure and weapons used by local terror groups. More than 40,000 Palestinians have left their homes since the launch of Operation Iron Wall, according to Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA.
Since the start of the operation, the military has reported killing over 100 terror operatives, arresting around 320 wanted suspects and seizing approximately 450 weapons in the northern West Bank.
In total, the IDF claims to have killed more than 700 terrorists in the northern West Bank, including 36 senior operatives from various terror groups, since the war in Gaza began on October 7, 2023, following Hamas’s invasion of southern Israel.
The military attributed the significant decline in terror attacks from the West Bank to these efforts. The last deadly attack occurred in January in the village of al-Funduq, where three people were killed and eight others were wounded.
Still, violence persists. On Wednesday evening, a shooting at Israeli troops at the Reihan checkpoint near Jenin left two injured, prompting the IDF to launch a manhunt for the perpetrators. Another attack took place in the southern West Bank, wounding another soldier.
The impact of the military’s efforts extends beyond the statistics. The effects of the IDF’s counterterrorism measures can also be felt on the ground, military officials said.
The commander of the Kfir Brigade’s Nahshon Battalion, Lt. Col. Yud — identified only by his first Hebrew initial due to security concerns — said that for the first time in his 15-year military career, he can enter Palestinian towns and villages without facing stone-throwing or other forms of attack.
The goal of the operation, said the commander of the West Bank division, Brig. Gen. Yaki Dolf, “is to dismantle the entire system — from the roots — starting with achieving operational control over key strongholds, particularly Jenin.”
“As a result of the operation, today we can operate anywhere, at any time, even in the heart of the camps,” Dolf said.
The military’s ongoing operations have significantly damaged the infrastructure of the camp, which housed some 3,000 Palestinian residents before the start of the counterterrorism operation. Once busy streets are now largely deserted, strewn with rubble and debris.
“We don’t demolish for the sake of demolishing,” asserted the chief of operations in the IDF’s Menashe Regional Brigade, Maj. Alef, who also maintained anonymity for security reasons. He emphasized that the military only targets terrorist infrastructure and buildings deemed necessary to clear access routes for troops.
As part of these route-clearing efforts, the IDF said that in recent months it demolished roughly 100 buildings in Jenin, with an additional 100 in Tulkarem, to the southwest, and the adjacent Nur Shams camp.
Despite the devastation in the Jenin refugee camp, the city of Jenin remains a hub of daily civilian life. Its open-air market continues to operate, alongside functioning shops and schools throughout the city.
The IDF has yet to announce an official plan regarding what will happen to the Palestinians who fled Jenin refugee camp in January, or when they will be allowed back to their homes. Many no longer have homes to return to.
The military has emphasized that its top priority is establishing security control over the West Bank to prevent future attacks originating from the area.
“We are conducting a systematic pursuit using intelligence to track down terrorists who fled the camp; we have a detailed tracking chart covering all routes,” Dolf said.
The military believes that many Palestinians involved in terror have become repeat offenders. It said that around 82% of those released in the 2011 Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange returned to terrorist activity — including Yahya Sinwar, the architect of Hamas’s October 7 attack, who was killed in Gaza late last year.
Similarly, officials claim that half of the Palestinians freed in the November 2023 hostage deal with Hamas — which secured the release of 105 living hostages during a weeklong truce — have since reengaged in terrorism.
It remains unclear how many of the Palestinian prisoners released as part of the most recent ceasefire deal in January, which secured the release of 33 hostages, have since resumed terrorist activity.
“Any terrorist who returns to terrorism will bear responsibility,” Dolf vowed.
The Times of Israel Community.