Israel defends that its operation in Jenin "is very precise" and denies the use of "excessive force"

The Israeli Army stresses that "the level of fighting is not as high as might be expected" and raises the number of detainees to 120

MADRID, 4 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Israeli Army has defended this Tuesday that the operation launched on Monday in the West Bank city of Jenin "is very precise" and has stated that "the level of fighting has been lower than expected", after the Palestinian authorities have confirmed at least ten dead Palestinians and nearly one hundred wounded in the clashes.

"The level of fighting is not as high as could be expected in the middle of the largest terrorist stronghold in the West Bank," said Israeli Army spokesman Nir Dinar in statements given to Europa Press, in which he specified that "the first bombardment since The air and scale of the raid have been so high that they have provided a strong deterrent among the Palestinians."

Thus, he stressed that "many of the militiamen have fled the Jenin camp and many have not come out to confront the (Israeli) forces", while confirming that so far around 120 Palestinian "militiamen" have been detained.

"I do not believe that excessive force is being used. The number of victims and deaths is not as high as could be expected (in the face of an operation of this scale)," Dinar argued, stressing that all those killed so far are members of Palestinian armed groups.

"It may seem that the operation involves destroying Jenin and infrastructure, but it is important to understand that although it is a large-scale operation (...) the operation is very precise," he argued, before defending that Israel "has sent its best strength to be as precise as possible.

In this sense, he has abounded that the Israeli troops "act against terrorists, not against the Palestinian population." "We have no problem with non-combatant Palestinians, we have a big problem with the terrorists who are hiding behind those civilians. We have gone (to Jenin) to confront them and they are hiding behind civilians and running away," he stressed.

"We hope this ends and that there are no more acts of terrorism from Jenin," said Dinar, who confirmed that the troops are still deployed in the area to "destroy ten terrorist infrastructure points" in the area, including "manufacturing centers of weapons".

"The objectives are still underway. We want to seize as many weapons as possible and we believe that there are still militants in the Jenin camp that we can stop," he said, before stressing that the operations may continue to be active in Jenin "for a few hours or a few few days".

On the other hand, he has indicated that the Israeli Army estimates that "between a thousand and 3,000" people have fled Jenin since the start of the operation and has affirmed that "it is assumed that among the civilians, who are being allowed to leave, there are militiamen posing as civilians". "I can't say for sure," she added.

Likewise, it has recognized that the use of military excavators during operations "have caused serious damage to the roads", although it has defended their use. "It was the terrorists' decision to place explosives on the roads," he said, before recalling that in an operation two weeks ago the explosion of a bomb in Jenin left eight soldiers injured and caused soldiers and vehicles to remain trapped for hours in the place .

"We cannot move the forces on roads full of explosives, there is no other option," he argued, before elaborating that workers from the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) -- dependent on the Israeli Ministry of Defense -- have went during the day "to see and understand the level of damage and how to restore the supply of electricity and water".

"Engineering material is expected to be moved in today afternoon to get things back to normal. I hope things get better as soon as possible. We are making great efforts to enable life in the West Bank in general and in Jenin in particular to be normal", highlighted Dinar.

Along these lines, he has reiterated that the Israeli authorities "are trying to repair" any damage caused to the infrastructure during the operation, "even if it costs a lot of money and effort. "It is our responsibility and obligation towards non-combatant Palestinians. We are trying to do that while trying to fight terrorism, which is very difficult to do at the same time," she said.

In another order of things, Dinar has defended that "military cooperation between Israel and the Palestinian Authority is very important for the security and stability of the region", after the Palestinian authorities cut off their coordination with Israel in response to the operation .

The decision was announced late on Monday after a meeting in Ramallah of the leadership of the Palestinian Authority led by President Mahmud Abbas in which they invited the leaders of the Palestinian political parties to an emergency meeting to "agree on a position and close ranks in the face of Israeli aggression".

In this way, the Israeli Army spokesman explained that "in areas where there is coordination and one does not take care of it, what you see are places like Jenin, which become terrorist strongholds that require this type of operation ".

"I hope that the security coordination continues to function", Dinar has reported, who has affirmed that, in any case, it is a matter that is managed between the civil authorities.

Finally, he called on the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and Islamic Jihad to "not escalate the situation" and to avoid "a war and bloodshed that is not beneficial to anyone", given the possibility that the groups armed Palestinians carry out attacks in revenge for the offensive.