Also, fatal floods in China and other Asian countries.
Israel ends its West Bank operation
Israel’s military said yesterday that it had withdrawn from the occupied West Bank city of Jenin after a large-scale incursion that killed at least 12 Palestinians, left one Israeli soldier dead and sent thousands fleeing from their homes over the past two days.
Palestinians in Jenin joined a mass funeral yesterday, broadcast live on local television, which honored those killed. Scores of residents returned to the refugee camp in Jenin to find damaged cars and homes, as well as roads torn up by Israeli bulldozers.
Even though the operation has ended, it has almost certainly not quashed the unrest in Jenin, which had been at the center of escalating tensions and violence in the year leading up to the incursion. Both Israelis and Palestinians said that the armed groups, which were targeted in the raid, would quickly rebuild and that Israeli soldiers would probably be back soon.
Outcome: The Israeli military declared the raid a success, saying soldiers dismantled laboratories for manufacturing explosives and removed weapons. But analysts said the operation lacked any deeper strategy and could incite more violence.
Palestinian perspective: Palestinian analysts said that public sentiment was heavily on the side of the armed groups in Jenin and that the Israeli operation was likely to spur more revenge attacks rather than bring calm.
The underlying sources of Palestinian anger also endure, including the West Bank occupation, the continued encroachment by Jewish settlements and a lack of economic opportunity.
For more: Young Palestinians drawn into the struggle against Israel are writing farewell messages to their families. “Don’t cry,” one 14-year-old wrote to his mother before he was killed. “And forgive me for every mistake I made.”Floods in China, Japan and Cambodia
China and several other Asia-Pacific countries are reeling from floods during the monsoon season and high temperatures, and rescuers are scrambling to cope with the onslaught of extreme weather conditions.
In China, floods have already displaced more than 20,000 people, according to forecasts and local news reports. State media reported that floods killed 15 people in the southwestern city of Chongqing. And news footage showed rescuers in the central province of Henan freeing people from a car that had been caught in a rushing river.
