BICOM

What happened: Israeli forces yesterday began their withdrawal from Jenin, signalling the end of Operation House and Garden (for more on the operation see BICOM’s briefings here and here.) The IDF announced the death of an Israeli soldier during the withdrawal. Elsewhere, Tel Aviv saw a ramming terror attack and rocket fire last night began from the Gaza Strip.

In Jenin: Israel’s military operation in Jenin ended this morning, with all IDF forces having left the area.

• Last night, an Israeli soldier, 23-year-old Sergeant-Major David Yehuda Yitzhak was killed while securing the beginning of the military’s withdrawal from Jenin. Yitzhak, from the settlement of Beit El, was critically injured during exchanges of fire. He was airlifted to hospital but succumbed to his injuries.
• 12 Palestinian terrorists have reportedly been killed during the operation. According to the IDF, some noncombatants were among the wounded.

In Tel Aviv: Seven people were wounded, four seriously, in a car-ramming and stabbing attack in northern Tel Aviv yesterday afternoon.

• The Palestinian assailant was named as 20-year-old Abed al-Wahab Khalaila, from the West Bank town of as-Samu. Khalaila was shot and killed by a nearby civilian.
• Hamas said Khalaila was a member but did not claim responsibility for the attack. It praised him as a “martyr fighter” and called the ramming “heroic and revenge for the military operation in Jenin.” Palestinian Islamic Jihad also praised the attack.
• One of the injured was a 30-year-old pregnant woman. She lost her child due to the wounds suffered in the attack.

In Gaza and southern Israel: Last night, after Israeli forces began their withdrawal from Jenin, five rockets were fired from Gaza at communities in southern Israel. All the rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defence system.

• In response, Israel targeted what it said was an underground Hamas manufacturing facility for weapons, and another for rockets.

Context: Since early Monday morning thousands of IDF troops have been operating against terrorist infrastructure inside Jenin, targeting several command and control centres in what is the largest offensive the IDF has undertaken in twenty years.

• Forces have confiscated over a thousand weapons, among them explosive devices, ammunition, guns, dozens of kilograms of chemical materials for making explosives, remotely operated weapons, and gas tanks.
• The weapons were located in hideouts, a mosque, pits concealed in civilian areas, operational situation rooms, and in vehicles.
• Two operational situation rooms used by terrorists in Jenin were also successfully located and dismantled.
• The military operation came after a series of Palestinian terror attacks against Israelis killed 29 people. According to IDF data, of the 290 terror attacks emanating from the West Bank since June 2022, 106 (or 36.5 percent) came from Jenin.

Looking ahead: The government considers the operation to have been a success, but it is not considered to be a long-term solution to ongoing Palestinian terrorism.

• Further – likely more limited – operations are possible in the coming weeks, with Operation House and Garden having both weakened a major terror stronghold and made conditions safer for Israeli counter-terror operations.
• Speaking as forces were in the early stages of withdrawal, Prime Minister Netanyahu said: “I can say that our extensive operation in Jenin is not a one-off.”
• Defence Minister Gallant stated that following the operation, Jenin is no longer a ‘terror factory’ but stressed the priority is freedom of movement. “It will take a little more time until we reach a situation where, as a result of having engaged militarily in Jenin in recent days, we will be able to move anywhere with a team of soldiers” he said.