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A dozen Palestinians were killed in the West Bank city of Jenin on Thursday during a prolonged firefight with Israel Defense Forces soldiers, local media reported. The raid in Jenin, which also involved the Shin Bet security agency and police officers, reportedly thwarted a “large-scale,” imminent attack on Israeli civilians.
“The security forces operated to apprehend a terror squad belonging to the Islamic Jihad terror organization,” a joint statement from Jerusalem read. “During the operation, the terror squad opened fire toward the Israeli security forces. A crossfire was instigated, during which three terrorists were neutralized.”
“During the operation to apprehend the terrorists, additional armed suspects opened fire toward the security forces, who responded with live fire. Hits were identified,” the missive continued, adding that “claims regarding additional casualties during the exchange of fire are being looked into.”
The IDF said that the wanted Islamic Jihad members had already participated in several attacks and were planning more extensive acts of violence.
⚠️Remains of the home that was used a sleeping quarters by the palestinian terrorists in Jenin that were planning to carry out a terror attack against Israeli civillians and were eliminated by IDF this morning#WestBank pic.twitter.com/YzbzhXIPkS
— russia is a terrorist state (@ignis_fatum) January 26, 2023
Reports on social media put the number of slain Palestinians as high as 13, with sources in Jenin saying that a surface-to-surface missile was used to eliminate a battalion of around five terrorists who had pinned down IDF fighters.
The counterterrorism raid marked one of the largest Israeli operations in the West Bank in recent years, and a senior IDF officer told Israeli journalists that the country’s defense establishment was preparing for a possible escalation of violence emanating from the Gaza Strip.
In response to the terrorists’ deaths, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas ordered flags be flown at half-staff for three days to mourn “the souls of the martyrs in the occupation massacre in the Jenin refugee camp.” For his part, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland said he was “deeply alarmed and saddened by the continuing cycle of violence.”
Thursday’s operation came amid heightened tensions in the West Bank. A day earlier, a Palestinian was shot dead in Samaria after attempting to stab Israeli troops. The incident occurred at a military position on Route 55 near the community of Kedumim. No Israeli casualties were reported.
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The Islamic Republic of Iran has stockpiled enough nuclear material to produce multiple bombs, the head of the UN’s atomic watchdog warned this week.
“They have amassed enough nuclear material for several nuclear weapons — not one at this point,” Rafael Grossi, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told members of the European Parliament, listing 70 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60 percent purity and 1,000 kilograms at 20%.
Accordingly, Tehran is only a short technical step away from the 90% purity required for weapons-grade uranium.
The IAEA head said he hopes to “be making some progress” on restoring Iranian cooperation with his agency’s monitoring efforts during an upcoming visit to the country. “I might be back in Tehran… in February, perhaps, for a much-needed political dialogue, or reestablishment thereof, with Iran,” Grossi noted.
– On Iran and its nuclear activites, @rafaelmgrossi says: It's true they have amassed nuclear material for several nuclear weapons but there is no nuclear weapon atm:
"They haven’t proliferated yet. That is why we have to keep engaged"
— Sunniva Rose (@Sunniva_Rose) January 24, 2023
Such a trip would come at a bleak time for EU-mediated talks to revive the moribund 2015 Iran nuclear deal — known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Earlier this week, an overwhelming majority of EU lawmakers called on Brussels to list Iran’s influential Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terror group.
In response, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf threatened that, should the European Commission formally endorse the resolution against the IRGC, the regime would declare the armed forces of European states as terrorist organizations.
The nuclear deal that is being negotiated since President Biden entered the White House in January 2021 focused on removing sanctions on the Iranian government in exchange for partially restricting its capabilities to build a nuclear weapon.
The possible restoration of the JCPOA has been at the center of Israel’s security concerns over the past years, with a concerned Jerusalem closely monitoring the indirect talks in Vienna.
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After Jordan once again called the Israeli ambassador to Amman on Tuesday, Jerusalem reiterated that there are no changes to the government’s policy regarding the status quo at the Temple Mount holy site in Jerusalem.
“There is no change in Israel’s policy regarding the Temple Mount. Israel is committed to keeping the status quo on the Temple Mount and the freedom of worship in Jerusalem. The Israeli Police is responsible for law and order on the Temple Mount,” the statement read.
Under the unofficial agreements known as the status quo, which date back to the 1967 Six-Day War, Jordanian religious authorities administer Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Islamic holy site located on the Temple Mount. Israel, for its part, is in charge of security at the hilltop compound.
Earlier this week, Jordan’s Foreign Ministry claimed its ambassador to Israel, Ghassan Majali, was blocked from entering the sacred mosque. However, the Israeli police declared that Majali arrived at the entrance to the Temple Mount “without any prior coordination with police officials,” leading an officer who didn’t recognize the ambassador to notify his commander about the unexpected visitor.
According to the Israeli account, the diplomat refused to wait and instead decided to leave.
Hours later, Jordan’s state-run media reported that Majali eventually entered the compound without receiving any permission. Yet, at the same time, the Jewish state’s eastern neighbor described the events as a “provocation,” adding that the Israeli ambassador had received a “strongly worded letter of protest to be conveyed immediately to his government.”
Tuesday marked the second time Jordan summoned the Israeli ambassador to its capital since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government was voted into power. On January 3, Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir visited the Temple Mount, prompting threats from the Hamas terrorist organization and a cascade of condemnations from across the Arab world.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during a previously unannounced meeting with King Abdullah II in Amman this week, reportedly gave further assurances that his government would protect the position of Jordan’s Islamic Waqf in the holy city.
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Europe’s largest Jewish student organization, the Brussels-based European Union of Jewish Students (EUJS), on Wednesday announced it had sued Twitter in a German court for failing to uphold its own commitment to removing antisemitic hate speech from the social media platform.
“Remembrance of the Shoah [Holocaust] must not be merely expressed through emotional speeches, but also through clear positions, resolute action and protective laws,” said Avital Grinberg, president of the EUJS, which represents some 160,000 European Jewish students.
The announcement of the lawsuit came mere days before the world marks International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which takes place annually on January 27. The move came only hours after Elon Musk’s Twitter reinstated (and subsequently banned) the American Holocaust denier and white supremacist Nick Fuentes.
Armed with six specific cases in which they claim Twitter did not take complaints seriously, the lawsuit demands the removal of antisemitic content that is illegal under German law, said Torben Duesing, EUJS’ lawyer, at a press conference in Berlin.
“Social media is our generation’s most important debate platform,” added Grinberg. The lawsuit, she said, is “the response of resilient Jews to the failure of Twitter, social media, politicians and the law.”
Recommended Reading
- Explainer: Israeli Judicial Reform – Threat to Democracy? (Robert A. Blum, Times of Israel)
- Our Duty to the Dead: Remember Their Names | Opinion (Dani Dayan, Newsweek)
- World Zionist Organization Says ‘Antisemitism Is Everywhere’ in New Report (Ynetnews)
- Archaeologists Baffled by Ancient Handprint Discovered in Jerusalem (Israel Hayom)
- Fauda’s Season 4 Breaks Viewership Records in the Middle East (Jennifer Hassan, i24NEWS)
