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IDF Spokesperson on 4 July, 2023
Israel Targets Jenin Terror Groups Following Palestinian Authority Withdrawal
Jerusalem, 21 January, 2025 (TPS-IL) -- Israeli security forces launched a large-scale counterterror operation in Jenin on Tuesday. The raid comes on the heels of the Palestinian Authority’s failed crackdown in the Jenin refugee camp.
According to Arab media reports, the Israel Defense Forces entered the city immediately after PA forces left. It was also reported that the PA struck an agreement with the Jenin Battalion, a coalition of local terror groups supported by Iran.
On Monday, a roadside bombing in the Palestinian village of Tammun killed one soldier and injured four. Hours later, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi ordered the military to gear up for a rise in terror attacks there following the Gaza ceasefire, which took effect on Sunday.
The army said details of the raid, dubbed “Operation Iron Wall,” would be forthcoming. It is believed that the operation will last several days.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the operation was aimed at “bolstering security” in Judea and Samaria.
“We are acting methodically and with determination against the Iranian axis wherever it reaches – in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and Judea and Samaria – and we are still active,” Netanyahu said in a statement.
Publicly, the Palestinian Authority had explained its crackdown as a fight against “lawbreakers” and against Iranian and Islamic State influence.
But a senior PA official explained to TPS-IL during the initial raids that its raid was part of a broader strategy to demonstrate PA authority’s ability to maintain governance as Ramallah eyes eventually administering the Gaza Strip.
One senior Fatah official described the crackdown to TPS-IL in December as a “do-or-die campaign” for Abbas, who is determined to dismantle what he calls “resistance nests” in the refugee camp.
Previous Israeli counterterror operations in 2023 and 2024 in the Jenin camp uncovered a tunnel shaft, a rocket launcher, large amounts of weapons and bomb-making laboratories. As of 2023, just over 24,000 registered refugees were living in the camp that Palestinians have dubbed “The Martyr’s Capital.”
An Arab diplomat later told TPS-IL that the PA’s raids were insufficient and that Arab leaders are urging US President-elect Donald Trump to replace Abbas.
