Since the beginning of the millennium, the cities of the West Bank have witnessed a number of Israeli military operations that included raids and sieges that aimed to completely destroy the region and its infrastructure, capture a number of Palestinians, and cause hundreds of martyrs.
The following are the most prominent operations launched by the Israeli occupation forces in the West Bank after the Second Intifada in 2000:
Protective wall
The Israeli occupation forces launched a military operation in the West Bank on March 29, 2002, with the approval of the then Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon. It came in response to a suicide bombing that targeted a hotel in the city of Netanya (in the central region) on the eve of the Jewish Passover holiday, which resulted in the deaths of 30 Israelis and the wounding of 160.
On April 2, the occupation forces surrounded the Jenin camp and the cities of the West Bank, then invaded them and deployed F-16 aircraft, Cobra and Apache helicopters, armored personnel carriers, snipers, and special units such as Golani, Yamam, and Givati.
The Palestinian resistance confronted the storming of the camp, killing an Israeli soldier and wounding 3 others. It was able to damage two tanks and a bulldozer, and seize 3 M-16 rifles, after surprising a group of Israeli special forces while they were trying to penetrate, forcing them to retreat away from the camp’s perimeter.
After two days of failed attempts to storm the camp, the Israeli Chief of Staff, General Shaul Mofaz, led a new operation that targeted the destruction of the Jenin camp, which led to the martyrdom of 60 Palestinians and the wounding of more than 243. Israel, for its part, announced the killing of 24 soldiers.
In the southwest of Nablus, more than 30 Israeli tanks stormed the town of Salfit, with heavy gunfire, and bombed sites belonging to the Palestinian security services. The occupation forces imposed a curfew in the town, and began arresting and searching the homes of Palestinians.
In Tulkarm, the occupation stormed the Jamal Abdel Nasser School, destroyed its wall, and turned its classrooms into sniper platforms, and its courtyard into a tank site. The army also stormed the eastern neighborhood of Tulkarm and turned it into military barracks, occupied the government buildings in the city, and imposed a curfew on the residents.
In Bethlehem, the occupation besieged the Church of the Nativity, took control of the city and declared it a closed military zone. It stormed the municipality headquarters after blowing up its gate, noting that the headquarters contained the offices of a local television station and a communications center for the municipality.
The occupation forces bombed a number of churches and mosques, including the Omar Ibn Al-Khattab Mosque, and set it on fire. They also prevented ambulances from reaching the injured who were trapped in all parts of the city.
The occupation besieged the city of Ramallah, stormed the Jalazone camp in the north, arrested dozens of Palestinians, and targeted a UN convoy carrying supplies and medical equipment to the city hospital, resulting in the death of about 28 martyrs, who were buried in a mass grave near the hospital, after the occupation prevented their funeral and burial.
Ramallah was declared a disaster area after the occupation cut off electricity and water, causing a shortage of food supplies and obstructing the provision of medical services due to the arrest of ambulance crews and the siege of the city.
After the occupation announced the partial lifting of the blockade on the city, the United Nations sent food supplies, medicines, medical equipment and oxygen cylinders to Ramallah Hospital.
Operation Defensive Shield ended on May 10, during which the occupation confiscated about 5,000 weapons, destroyed 23 explosives manufacturing factories, 430 explosive devices, and a number of Qassam rockets and launch pads.
choking pressure
On June 23, 2002, the Israeli occupation army launched an operation called “Suffocating Pressure,” targeting the city of Nablus and the surrounding Palestinian camps and villages, most notably Balata and Beit Furik camps. It withdrew on August 19 of the same year.
During the operation, the occupation assassinated 6 members of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah), and a member of the Islamic Jihad Movement, and carried out a series of raids on an almost daily basis, which included targeting residential areas and searching Palestinian homes.
In July 2006, the occupation forces imposed a siege on the governorate building, the authority complex, some security buildings, and the central prison in Nablus, and sent about 50 armored vehicles.
Armed clashes took place between Israeli forces and Palestinian resistance fighters, resulting in the martyrdom of 7 Palestinians and the injury of 67, including 27 children. The occupation destroyed about 6 buildings belonging to the Palestinian Authority, then announced its withdrawal after a siege that lasted 3 days.
Breakwater 2022
On March 31, 2022, the Israeli occupation army began an aggression on the West Bank and the extension of the apartheid wall, which it called “Break the Waves,” with the aim of limiting the resistance operations carried out by the Palestinians.
The operation focused on the cities of Jenin and Nablus, and led to the martyrdom of more than a hundred Palestinians. During the raid, the occupation forces used drones, in a move that the cities of the West Bank had not witnessed since Operation Defensive Shield.
The occupation army mobilized about 25 battalions of ground forces in this operation, in addition to special forces for arrest missions and confronting resistance operations.
The number of forces mobilized by the Israeli army amounted to about 5,000 soldiers, 8,000 police officers, and it used Unit 8200 and the Air Force for monitoring and surveillance.
The Israeli forces did not officially announce the end of the operation, so the region remained in a state of escalation, during which the pace of Israeli attacks and arrests against Palestinians increased.
The resistance responded with a series of operations in the West Bank, the most prominent of which was a shooting operation on April 7, 2022, on Dizengoff Street in Tel Aviv, which resulted in the killing of 3 Israelis and the wounding of 14 others. After a chase that lasted about 9 hours, Israeli radio announced the killing of the perpetrator of the operation.
Summer camps
A military operation launched by the Israeli occupation forces at dawn on Wednesday, August 28, 2024, which included a siege and attack on the cities of Jenin, Tulkarm, Tubas and towns in the northern occupied West Bank, with the aim of targeting the resistance fighters there. Israel described it as the most extensive since Operation Defensive Shield in 2002.
The operation involved the Kfir Brigade (an infantry brigade), four Border Guard battalions, undercover units, elite forces, and military engineering units, in coordination with the General Security Service (Shabak) and with support from the Israeli Air Force, which deployed military helicopters, fighter jets, and drones to provide cover for the ground forces.
In Jenin, the occupation forces cut off the roads leading to Ibn Sina Hospital, and placed earthen barriers around it to completely close it. They also surrounded Khalil Suleiman Hospital, and evacuated Jenin Governmental Hospital after checking the identities of those present there. The occupation forces began destroying the infrastructure of Jenin camp, and completed their storming.
In Jerusalem, the occupation forces stormed the Shuafat camp from several directions, with the help of 150 soldiers, and closed its entrances.
In Tulkarm, the occupation forces destroyed the main water line of Nour Shams camp, imposed a siege on the camp, and engaged in clashes with the Tulkarm Battalion.
In response to this operation, the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian resistance movement (Hamas), the Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad movement, and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades announced a joint operation called “Terror of the Camps,” which included shooting, clashes, and targeting of military vehicles.
The Palestinian Red Crescent announced the death of 11 martyrs during the first hours of the operation, most of whom were resistance fighters in the Palestinian factions who were targeted by drones, most notably Muhammad Jaber Abu Shuja, the commander of the Tulkarm Battalion, who was assassinated by the occupation after besieging a building he was inside amid an exchange of fire.
The Islamic Jihad Movement said in a statement that “the operation comes within the context of the enemy’s plans to impose control over the city of Jerusalem and the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.”