IDF launches major counterterror raid in West Bank’s Jenin, expected to last days
Operation Iron Wall begins with drone strikes on terror infrastructure; large numbers of troops enter city; 10 Palestinians said killed, 40 wounded
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent

The Israel Defense Forces launched a major counterterrorism operation in the northern West Bank city of Jenin on Tuesday afternoon, which military sources said was expected to last several days.
The operation began with a series of drone strikes on infrastructure used by terror groups in Jenin, a military source said.
Palestinian media outlets reported several airstrikes and local health officials said at least 10 people were killed and 40 were wounded.
Footage published by Palestinian media showed Israeli Air Force helicopters flying over Jenin.
In a brief joint statement, the IDF and Shin Bet security agency confirmed the operation, dubbed “Iron Wall,” and said further details would be provided later.
IDF sources said large numbers of troops, including special forces, Shin Bet agents and Border Police officers, were operating in the city.
إطلاق نار من الطيران المروحي بإتجاه المواطنين في مدينة #جنين pic.twitter.com/rqyS4DhrzW
— Newpress | نيو برس (@NewpressPs) January 21, 2025
The goals of the operation were to “preserve the IDF’s freedom of action” in the West Bank, neutralize terror infrastructure and eliminate imminent threats, according to military sources.
The sources said the operation would last at least several days.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the operation was “another step in achieving the goal we set, strengthening security in Judea and Samaria.”
Judea and Samaria is the biblical name for the West Bank.
“We are operating in a systematic and decisive way against the Iranian axis wherever it sends its arms, in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Judea and Samaria,” Netanyahu said in a statement released by his office.
من اقتحام الاحتلال الواسع لمدينة جنين ومخيمها. pic.twitter.com/WShDKcgty0
— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) January 21, 2025
On Monday, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said the military was preparing for “significant operations” in the West Bank, amid a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
“Along with the intense defense preparations in the Gaza Strip, we must be prepared for significant operations in Judea and Samaria in the coming days in order to preempt and catch the terrorists before they reach our citizens,” he said during an assessment, in remarks released by the IDF.

On Sunday, military officials said the Central Command was readying to carry out offensive actions in the West Bank, to prevent Hamas from establishing a foothold in the West Bank in light of the release of members of the terror group in the ceasefire deal.
The offensive plans were being coordinated with the Palestinian Authority, which also fears its rival Hamas gaining power in the West Bank, the officials said.
Hundreds of Palestinian security prisoners are due to be released to the West Bank in the hostage deal and ceasefire with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, including many convicted of deadly terror attacks.
The Tuesday raid came a day after an Israeli reservist soldier was killed and four others were wounded, including a senior officer in serious condition, when they were hit by a roadside bomb in the northern West Bank.
It also followed a shaky truce agreement between the Palestinian Authority and terror groups operating in Jenin that ended a six-week standoff in the northern West Bank city and adjacent refugee camp.

The PA had been targeting the so-called Jenin Battalion, made up of operatives affiliated with terror groups such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, in a bid to show incoming US President Donald Trump that Ramallah can maintain order in the West Bank, amid its push to take the reins of Gaza from Hamas after the war there.
The IDF, which also staged counterterrorism operations in the northern West Bank in recent months, has said that it supported bolstering the PA forces to help them in the fight against the Jenin Battalion. The military paused its airstrikes on Jenin as PA forces operated there, but ended that policy last week with a pair of airstrikes on terror operatives that killed a dozen people, including civilians.
Palestinian media reported Tuesday that as Israeli troops entered Jenin, PA forces withdrew from the area.

The West Bank has seen a sharp rise in violence since the Gaza war was sparked on October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages.
Since then, IDF troops have arrested some 6,000 wanted Palestinians across the West Bank, including more than 2,350 affiliated with Hamas.
According to the Palestinian Authority health ministry, more than 858 West Bank Palestinians have been killed in that time. The IDF says the vast majority of them were gunmen killed in exchanges of fire, rioters who clashed with troops or terrorists carrying out attacks.
During the same period, 46 people, including Israeli security personnel, have been killed in terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank. Another seven members of the security forces were killed in clashes with terror operatives in the West Bank.