West Bank op ‘to mark strategy shift’: Israeli defense chief
JERUSALEM

Israel’s ongoing military operation in the Jenin city will mark a significant change in the army’s security doctrine in the occupied West Bank, Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Jan. 22.
The operation "will mark a shift in the IDF's security strategy in Judea and Samaria," the minister said, referring to the biblical name that Israel uses for the West Bank.
He added that the operation was geared "at eliminating terrorists and terrorist infrastructure in the Jenin refugee camp – without the recurrence of terrorism in the camp after the operation's conclusion – a first lesson from the method of repeated raids in Gaza."
Israel’s Channel 12 broadcaster also quoted him as saying his government would not allow the lives of Israeli settlers to be threatened in the Palestinian territory.
The army continued a military operation for the second day on Jan. 22, raiding several neighborhoods in the Jenin refugee camp and shelling several sites in the area.
Sounds of gunfire and explosions were heard as Israeli bulldozers destroyed infrastructure and shops in the camp.
At least 10 Palestinians were killed and 40 others injured, while dozens of people were also arrested as part of the operation. Jenin Mayor Muhammad Jarar noted that the Israeli military has forced a number of Palestinians to leave their homes in the Jenin refugee camp.
The Israeli army said that the Jenin operation, code-named "Iron Wall," is expected to last several days.
Israeli media said that the Jenin operation was an attempt by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to appease his Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who opposes the Gaza ceasefire agreement.
According to Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, Netanyahu promised Smotrich to launch an attack on Jenin in return for him staying in the government.
Netanyahu said the raid aimed to "eradicate terrorism" in Jenin and was part of a broader strategy to counter Iran "wherever it sends its arms, in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen" and the West Bank.
The escalation came after U.S. President Donald Trump canceled an executive order that enabled sanctions against violent Israeli settlers.
His nominee for U.N. envoy Elise Stefanik was asked by Sen. Chris Van Hollen at her confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee whether she subscribed to the views of some far-right politicians who believed that Israel has a "biblical right" to the entire West Bank.
"Yes!" Stefanik replied.
Meanwhile, the Israeli parliament approved a bill criminalizing denial, minimization or celebration of Hamas’s attack on Oct. 7, 2023.
The bill passed with no opponents or abstentions.
The legislation is modeled after a 1986 law prohibiting Holocaust denial.
“Anyone who says or writes things denying the October 7 massacre with the intention of defending the terrorist organization Hamas and its partners, expressing sympathy for them, or identifying with them, will be sentenced to five years in jail,” the law said.