Ceasefire in Gaza

Israeli army launches offensive in the West Bank

Israeli roadblock in the city of Jenin

(Bild: APA/AFP/JAAFAR ASHTIYEH)

While the weapons in the Gaza Strip are silent, Israel has now launched a major military operation in the West Bank. Together with the domestic intelligence service and police, an "anti-terrorist operation" is being carried out in the city of Jenin, which is considered a stronghold of militant Palestinians, it was reported on Tuesday. The first deaths are already reported.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah, at least four Palestinians were killed and 35 others injured at the start of the operation known as the Iron Wall. Security forces of the Palestinian Authority, who had been deployed against militants in Jenin for several weeks, withdrew beforehand, according to Palestinian reports. According to media reports, ground troops and special units entered the city. There were also several drone attacks.

Red Crescent workers carry a wounded man to safety in Jenin.

(Bild: APA/AP)

Catholic Church warns against Israel's "annexation plans"
The Catholic Church painted a gloomy picture of the situation in the Holy Land on Monday. According to Kathpress, the Director General of the Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem, Sami Al-Yousef, said it was to be feared that the ceasefire between Israel and the militant Palestinian organization Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which came into force on Sunday, would only be "a temporary relief". For the occupied West Bank, he warned against Israel's plans for partial or complete annexation. The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem represents the Roman Catholic Christians in the Holy Land. 

Yousef described the Gaza Strip, which has been destroyed in the war since the Hamas massacres in Israel on October 7, 2023, as "virtually uninhabitable". Reconstruction would take a very long time. The Patriarchate Director described the situation in the Israeli-occupied West Bank as a disaster. The current Israeli government is pursuing a policy that is destroying the few remaining achievements of the Oslo Accords of the 1990s and is aiming to fully establish Israeli rule over the Palestinian territories. 

Radical settlers attack Israeli security forces
According to Yousef, the greatest challenges for the Palestinians are the sharp rise in violence by Jewish settlers and a catastrophic economic situation. The already tense situation in the West Bank has worsened considerably since the Hamas massacre in Israel. On Monday, numerous masked radical settlers set fire to several vehicles and houses in Palestinian villages. Two of the settlers were seriously injured in clashes with Israeli security forces.