A Hamas militant rammed his car into a crowded Tel Aviv bus stop on Tuesday and began stabbing people, wounding eight in an attack that Palestinian armed groups said was revenge for an Israeli military offensive in the occupied West Bank. A bystander shot and killed the attacker.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated the operation in the Jenin refugee camp, one of the most intense in the territory in nearly two decades, was winding down. But he gave no details on when it would end and vowed to carry out similar operations in the future.
LET INDEPENDENCE DAY MEAN INDEPENDENT THOUGHT, NOT GROUPTHINK
“At these moments we are completing the mission, and I can say that our extensive operation in Jenin is not a one-off,” during a visit to a military post on the outskirts of Jenin. “We will continue as long as necessary to cut out terrorism.”
Israel struck the camp, known as a bastion of Palestinian militants, early Monday in an operation it said was aimed at destroying and confiscating weapons. Palestinian health officials said 11 people have been killed and dozens wounded.
Massive military bulldozers have torn through alleyways, leaving heavy damage to roads and buildings in their wake, and thousands of residents fled the camp. Residents said electricity and water were knocked out.
The Israeli military said Tuesday afternoon that fewer than 10 targets remained in the camp and that it hoped to complete the operation within 24 hours.
The large-scale raid comes amid a more than yearlong spike in violence that has created a challenge for Netanyahu’s far-right government, which is dominated by ultranationalists who have called for tougher action against Palestinian militants only to see the fighting worsen.
Over 140 Palestinians have been killed this year in the West Bank, and Palestinian attacks targeting Israelis have killed at least 25 people, including a shooting last month that killed four settlers.
With airstrikes and a large presence of ground troops, the raid bore hallmarks of Israeli military tactics during the second Palestinian uprising in the early 2000s.
But the current violence is also different from the intense years of what was known as the second intifada, a period that claimed thousands of lives. It’s more limited in scope, with Israeli military operations focused on several strongholds of Palestinian militants.
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a hard-line settler leader, rushed to the scene of Tuesday’s attack in Tel Aviv.
“We knew that terror would raise its head,” he said. He praised the person who killed the attacker and called for arming more citizens with guns, as he was heckled by an angry onlooker.
The attacker was identified as a 20-year-old Palestinian man from the southern West Bank city of Hebron.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The Islamic militant group Hamas praised him as a “martyr fighter” and called the ramming “heroic and revenge for the military operation in Jenin.” Islamic Jihad, a militant group with a large presence in Jenin, also praised the assault.
It was not immediately clear if the man was dispatched by Hamas or acted on his own.
