Israeli forces began withdrawing from Jenin on Tuesday evening, an army spokeswoman told AFP, after a major operation in which 12 Palestinians were killed in the northern part of the occupied West Bank.

“Israeli forces have begun to withdraw from Jenin,” the spokeswoman said, without giving further details.

On Monday, Israel launched the largest military operation in the West Bank in 20 years.

Israeli television showed images of military equipment leaving the area and entering Israeli territory.

Earlier that day, a car bomb exploded in Tel Aviv, injuring seven people. The attack was perceived by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, which has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007, as “the first response to the crimes against our people in the Jenin camp.” “.

A Palestinian rammed a car into civilians in northern Tel Aviv on Tuesday, injuring seven people before stabbing several bystanders and fatally wounding a civilian.

At the scene of the attack, police chief Yakov Shabtai said that the “terrorist” was a resident of the West Bank and was shot by a passer-by.

The deserted streets of Jenin, full of debris and stones

In Jenin, which was overrun by drones, shops remained closed on Tuesday, an AFP correspondent said, the second day of an operation that mobilized hundreds of Israeli soldiers in the city and a nearby refugee camp.

The almost deserted streets were strewn with rubble and stones, the asphalt was broken, and the road was blackened around improvised barricades.

“There is a catastrophic situation in the refugee camp,” Jenin Mayor Nidal Abu Saleh told AFP, referring to the power and water cuts in the camp.

At a press conference on Tuesday evening, Palestinian Health Minister Mai al-Qaila called the Israeli operation “aggression that is against international law.”

Open war

The army said it hit the “joint operations center” of a local armed group, the Jenin Brigades, and several targets, including six “explosive workshops”.

“We will act as long as it takes to eradicate terrorism,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a visit to a military base near Jenin on Tuesday.

International organizations have asked Israel to guarantee the access of humanitarian vehicles. The United States said on Monday it respected Israel’s right to defend itself but stressed the need to avoid civilian casualties, while the United Nations said all military operations must comply with international law.

For nearly a year, Israeli army raids on Palestinian cities such as Jenin have become routine, amid numerous attacks by Palestinian militants on Israeli soldiers and Jewish settlers in the West Bank.

Until June 21, when the Israeli military struck Jenin, drones had not been used in the West Bank since 2006.