All IDF troops withdraw from Jenin as operation finishes

The streets were deserted. 

To the extent that there were streets.

Multiple streets that the Jerusalem Post and a small group of military reporters viewed as part of an embed with IDF troops going deep into the heart of Jenin on Tuesday afternoon had been blown up or carved up, depending on whether they had been bulldozed or set off by the IDF's bomb squads.

Then again, only a few meters away, there were streets which appeared mostly untouched.

The Palestinian leadership decided on Monday night to halt all contact and meetings with Israel and continue the suspension of security coordination between the Palestinian security forces and the Israeli security forces.

The Ramallah-based leadership also decided to limit its relationship with the US over Washington’s alleged failure to exert pressure on Israel.
 
The decision was taken during an emergency meeting of the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah to discuss the latest developments surrounding the large-scale IDF operation in Jenin Refugee Camp, which began earlier in the day. 

UN aid agencies on Tuesday voiced alarm at the scale of the ongoing Israeli military operation in the West Bank town of Jenin, where 10 Palestinians have been killed, saying there were restrictions on medical access.

The operation, which involved drone strikes and hundreds of troops and was one of the largest of its kind in years, entered a second day on Tuesday, prompting the evacuation of thousands of people from a refugee camp.

"We are alarmed at the scale of air and ground operations that are taking place in Jenin in the occupied West Bank, and air strikes hitting a densely populated refugee camp," Vanessa Huguenin, a spokesperson for the UN humanitarian office, told a briefing, saying three minors were among those killed. She did not immediately respond to a request for the victims' ages.

Israeli security forces deactivated 11 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) placed on roads and inside "terrorist infrastructure" in the Jenin refugee camp on Tuesday, according to an IDF statement. 

The statement read: "Terrorists in the Jenin Camp are concealing explosive devices on roads in civilian areas in the camp. This endangers innocent civilians who use the roads, as well as the security forces conducting counterterrorist activities in the area."

"In response to this threat, the IDF has been acting on precise intelligence to neutralize the explosives by clearing the roads using engineering tools.

"Additionally, armed terrorists have set up barriers to hinder the activities of the forces in the camp. In response, the engineering tools have been used to remove these barriers."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a situational assessment via telephone on recent events in Jenin on Monday afternoon, the Prime Minister's Office said.

In the call, Netanyahu was given an update on Israeli forces' activity on the ground as well as the IDF's future targets. 

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi and Shin Bet director Ronen Bar were also on the call, among a host of top IDF generals.

Israel has been buffeted by two tumultuous events on Monday, the commencement of the largest military operation in Jenin since the Second Intifada, and political unrest in response to the resumption of judicial reform legislation. 

While these events aren't evidently related, issues are often politicized to support agendas and narratives. '

Both the anti-reform and reformist political camps used the operation in their judicial reform arguments on Monday and Tuesday, as tensions and protests spiked. In particular, the Jenin operation was seen as a reason for politicians to call for the cessation of their opponents' political endeavors.

The IDF provided extensive details on Tuesday about its operation uncovering a wide variety of terror infrastructure in the Islamic Jihad-associated Al-Ansar Mosque in Jenin.

Already on Monday, there was fighting between IDF forces and Palestinians around and within parts of the mosque.

The IDF found hidden subterranean areas where explosives and weapons were located.

However, on Tuesday, the IDF provided an extensive infographic detailing no less than 12 different terror-related items spread across multiple floors of the mosque and the nearby areas.

Besides several different hidden weapons locations, the mosque was also a command and control center specifically for Islamic Jihad.

One of the surprises for the IDF was that there have been under 10 gunbattles in Jenin as the operation enters its second day.

Whether because the IDF achieved complete surprise, because of fear of being targeted by drones or other considerations, most of the fighters in Jenin have chosen to hide, rather than confront the IDF. 

In that sense and if the fighters whose identities are unknown continue to hide, once the IDF has neutralized the remaining 10 targets and sought to find some more of the identified wanted suspects, there could be little for the IDF to do, other than leave its forces exposed and be hit with global criticism for dragging out the operation.

The Palestinian Health Ministry reported that there are a total of 10 Palestinians dead since the operation in Jenin started.