While calm seems to have returned to Gaza, the Israeli army launched a vast operation this Tuesday in Jenin in the occupied West Bank to, according to it, eradicate terrorists and protect Israeli settlers.
A major Israeli military operation in the occupied West Bank left at least six dead and dozens injured on Tuesday, according to Palestinian health authorities, as the fragile ceasefire in Gaza enters its third day.
The operation, dubbed “Iron Wall,” centered on the city of Jenin, which has been the scene of repeated Israeli incursions and exchanges of fire with militants in recent years, even before the Hamas attack. of October 7, 2023 triggers the war in Gaza.
The Israeli army announced a “significant and large-scale military operation” in the West Bank, a few days before a ceasefire with Hamas in Gaza, supposed to last six weeks and allow the release of 33 hostages held by the activists in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
The Hamas-controlled Palestinian Health Ministry says more than 800 people have been killed by Israeli fire, including settler attacks, in the West Bank since the war between Israel and Hamas. It does not distinguish between militants and civilians in its count.
Meanwhile, in Gaza, displaced residents attempt to return home, but often find only the remains of what was once their home.
“Everything has been transformed into a pile of bricks and concrete. It would take me two years to clear all the debris. What awaits us?” asks a resident. “We can’t even pitch a tent here. Everything is completely destroyed.”
Gaza received a significant influx of aid and goods, with 915 trucks entering the territory on the second day of the ceasefire, the United Nations said.
UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said colleagues in Gaza informed the UN that 915 trucks – far more than the 600 trucks planned under the ceasefire – entered Gaza on Monday, based on information provided by the Israeli authorities and the guarantors of the ceasefire agreement.
U.N. humanitarian affairs chief Tom Fletcher said Sunday that the needs in Gaza were enormous and his office said Monday that aid workers were stepping up deliveries of food, clean water, shelter materials and other essential supplies.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that more than 2 million people in Gaza, about half of whom are children, depend on this aid, Haq said.
The World Health Organization, meanwhile, has a 60-day plan to increase the number of beds and deploy foreign health workers to Gaza’s hospitals, but some 30,000 Palestinians have life-changing injuries and need specialized care, said Mr. Haq.
