Just 3 days after the beginning of the ceasefire in Gaza – which, at least for now, seems to be holding – the Israel Defence Forces launched yesterday (21. Jan) a large-scale “counterterrorism”operation in the West Bank town of Jenin. The operation, named IRON WALL, explicitly recalls SWORDS OF IRON, the operation that marked the beginning of the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip.

Throughout this year of War, Tel Aviv has devoted substantial material resources, precisely, to the third battlefront, that of the West Bank. The Israeli Army and Police forces have, in fact, conducted regular roundup operations and targeted arrests against individuals suspected to be linked with Hamas and Islamic Jihad. The epicenter of this area has always remained, precisely, the Jenin refugee camp, a historic stronghold of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, where Israeli forces have always encountered strong resistance from Palestinians. In this regard it is useful to recall the Battle of Jenin, which took place from April 1-11, 2002, during the Israeli Operation DEFENSIVE SHIELD, launched to counter terrorist attacks by Palestinian militiamen in the area in the broader context of the Second Intifada. During this occasion, Tsahal (IDF in Hebrew) forces besieged the camp, considered even then the “bastion” of groups such as Hamas and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. The battle was fierce: the exact number of casualties – mostly Palestinians – remains disputed to this day (a United Nations survey published a few months later estimated about 52 Palestinians killed, most of them combatants, and 23 Israeli soldiers).

The goal of the operation – which, according to some statements, is expected to last a few days – is avowedly to “neutralize the terrorist infrastructure in the area”, including, precisely, groups such as Islamic Jihad, Hamas and the so-called Jenin Battalion, and “contain what is considered an imminent threat to national security”. The Jenin Battalion, established in 2021 on the initiative of Jamil Al-Amouri, a Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) militant, has its Operational Command inside the homonymous refugee camp. This group, like other formations such as the “Den of Lions” and the “Balata Brigade,” grew out of the initiative of young Palestinians with no prospects and animated by a growing sense of frustration. Over the past year, the group has seen a significant increase in support and recruits, consolidating its presence in the area. The Jenin Battalion represents one of the many “spontaneous” armed groups that have emerged, precisely, since 2021, which have “taken advantage” of the gradual weakening of territorial control in the area by Al Fatah and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA); control that, essentially, they no longer exercise.

At the time of writing, the refugee camp has been completely encircled by Tel Aviv forces, which have cut off all access to it. As it appears from the pictures and videos that have been circulating on social media over the past few hours, Israeli forces are deploying in the area several D9 bulldozers – used mainly for IED demining – and a number of EITAN APCs (Armored Personal Carriers). In addition, the IDF is using a large number of UAVs – to carry out ISR and armed reconnaissance tasks – and combat helicopters (AH-64 APACHE). In addition to “conventional” and regular Israeli Army units, a number of personnel belonging to the special forces of Shayetet 13 (“Flotilla 13,” a special forces unit of the Israeli Navy, also part of the IDF), as well as Border Police officers, are also present in the area.

The military operation conducted in Jenin can be interpreted as an attempt by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to regain and reconsolidate the support of the ultranationalist wing of his government, following the achievement of the Gaza truce agreement. That agreement aroused strong opposition within the most intransigent factions of the executive, who called it “extremely dangerous to national security.” Opposition, the latter, which led, last Jan. 19, to the resignation of the Minister of National Security, the hawkish Itamar Ben-Gvir, and which threatens to bring with it also those of the Minister of Finance, Bezalel Smotrich, the other far-right figure within the government.

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