Defense Minister Yoav Gallant stated that IDF's mission during the military operation in Jenin this week was successful in destroying terrorist infrastructure and combatting the use of Jenin as a haven for terrorists.
"In the last 48 hours, we significantly damaged the terrorist production infrastructure and brought down the terrorist production factory that was established in Jenin. It must be understood that there were many dozens of sites where there were: workshops for the production of explosives, laboratories, storage sites, and also security measures in which they guarded the entrances to the camp and to monitor the routine activities of the security forces. There were snipers there, and a tunnel that some of you saw on patrol there. We arrested a lot of people involved in terrorism," Gallant said in a conversation with military reporters this afternoon (Wednesday).
"In terms of the objectives - the objectives of the operation have been fully achieved, starting this morning the IDF and the Shin Bet have a different level of freedom of action in Jenin."
The defense minister stated that two divisions participated in the operation in a manner allowing the security forces to divide into smaller forces for specific tasks, more than has been possible in past operations.
Gallant also said that "any terrorist who returns to the refugee camp in Jenin will not recognize it, for him it is no longer a sanctuary, certainly not at the same level. They'll feel that they always have to look over their shoulders."
Gallant hinted that this would not be the last military operation in Jenin. "From our point of view, this is not the end of the story. Just as we acted with strength here, we will act after this with whatever strength is required in a specific place or in the entire refugee camp. In fact, if I connect this operation to the operation of several months ago against the Islamic Jihad in Gaza, there is a connecting line between them. That connection is the instructions I gave on the first day in my position against terrorism, proactive moves, and attacks. We don't have to wait for them to act to respond over and over again. We are taking an offensive and proactive position and going to the places from which they operate, this is what we did in Jenin. We have the ability to copy this formula for other places, and to adopt changing methods."
"Despite all the talk on TikTok, at the moment of truth the terrorists in Jenin chose to hide or flee. And the last two days proves that this is not about some kind of army or about suicide militias, it is about terrorists who fight for money or to show their friends and acquaintances that they are 'heroes.' . Most of them left their places of residence, and those who remained, hid in places where they were protected by the civilian population, such as hospitals and around children. I think this is something that indicates more than anything the cowardice and the lack of the courage that they try to portray to the world. You should know [paraphrasing Isaac's words in the Bible, ed.] that the hands are Palestinian hands, mainly those of the Islamic Jihad which is the more dominant factor in the Jenin refugee camp, although there are others as well. But the funding is Iranian funding. We have seen a long period of Iranian attempts to promote terrorism from Judea and Samaria through financing, guidance, and the attempted transportation of weapons," Gallant said.