The Independent, Sky News, The BBC, and The Guardian report on our main item, that Israel has withdrawn its troops from Jenin as Gaza is hit by airstrikes following rocket fire from the strip. The United Nations Security Council, they report, is set to meet to discuss the situation, and the US has called for the protection of civilians while recognising Israel’s right to defend its people against terrorist groups.

An article in The Spectator discusses the ongoing threat of terrorist attacks in Israel and argues that Israel is unfairly condemned for its response. It highlights a major incursion into the West Bank city of Jenin and criticises the Palestinian Authority’s inability to police the area effectively. The author suggests a phenomenon of “Israelophobia” in Britain, where media coverage and public opinion tend to blame Israel. The article emphasises Israel’s need to protect its people, even if it means using its armed forces, and criticizes the weaponisation of civilian casualties for propaganda purposes.

A Financial Times article highlights that the recent escalation in Israeli force can be attributed to both short-term and long-term factors. Short-term factors include the evolving capabilities of militant factions in the Jenin camp, which have improved their improvised explosive devices and even fired a rudimentary rocket at Israel. Pressure from far-right settlers on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take aggressive action in the West Bank has also played a role. The article mentions that this year was already on track to be the deadliest year since 2005 in the West Bank, with 114 Palestinians and 16 Israelis killed before the recent escalation.

Sky News reports that Israel’s military operation in Jenin may have achieved its objectives in terms of seizing weapons, destroying command centres, and gathering intelligence. However, it has also deepened the hatred and fuelled the determination of young men in the city to fight against Israeli forces. The operation, which has entered its second day, has led to a general strike in the West Bank, with closed shops and limited movement of people. The presence of heavily-armoured Israeli troop carriers, explosions, gunfire, and drones overhead create a tense and volatile atmosphere. While Israeli officials claim they are close to completing their mission, the operation has further motivated the resistance in Jenin, a city known for its history of fighting against Israeli forces.

The Financial Times reports that eight people were injured in Tel Aviv when a Palestinian driver rammed his car into pedestrians, followed by a stabbing attack. The attack in Tel Aviv was praised by the Palestinian militant group Hamas as a “natural response” to the raid. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that such attacks would not deter Israel’s fight against terrorism. It reports Palestinian officials and aid organisations condemning the Jenin operation as a “war crime”.

The Israeli media is dominated by coverage of the end of Operation House and Garden in Jenin, by yesterday’s ramming attack in Tel Aviv, and by overnight rocket fire from the Gaza Strip.

Yediot Ahronot’s military affairs commentator, Yossi Yehoshua, writes this morning: “In retrospect, the large-scale incursion of troops achieved the desired outcome: Israel proved it is not deterred from entering the refugee camp, most of the terrorists fled and the IDF worked to neutralise the terrorist infrastructure. Hour after hour, the IDF entered every building in the camp that had been declared a target—including the mosque, where weapons had been stockpiled—and dismantled the infrastructure that had caused senior defence officials to lose sleep over the past year. Some of the operation’s significance stems from the restoration of the IDF’s ground troops’ confidence. The IDF had not used a brigade formation of ground troops since Operation Protective Edge, exactly nine years ago. For the first time, troops used a range of new weapons, which surprised the terrorists. That said, it is important to bear in mind that this was a limited operation against a convenient enemy. That isn’t going to be the case when the IDF faces off with Hamas’ Nokhba (elite fighting unit) Force or Hezbollah’s Radwan Force.”

Israel Hayom’s Yoav Limor writes that: “The operation’s achievements can be divided into two categories: physical and psychological. On the physical side, hundreds of IEDs —including IEDs that had been planted in the access road leading to the refugee camp—were found and destroyed. These were blown up thanks to precise intelligence provided by the GSS: Six laboratories for the production of IEDs, underground shafts and safe houses and weapons storehouses. That said, the number of wanted men who were either killed or captured was smaller than planned, mainly because most of them stayed out of the fighting and chose either to flee or to hide. The GSS did arrest about 100 Palestinians (and questioned around 800 on the ground), but there are more than a few terror operatives left in Jenin who will remain a considerable headache. In psychological terms, the operation was intended to shatter the perception that the refugee camp was a safe haven. Or, as one senior security official said yesterday, ‘the fortress.’”

In a less optimistic vein, Yediot Ahronot’s Avi Issacharoff writes of “the big problem with the operation in Jenin: it was a couple of aspirin, at best, to deal with a terminal disease. It might somewhat reduce the danger posed by the Jenin refugee camp in terms of the quantity of weapons at the residents’ disposal, but it definitely isn’t likely to produce any real drop in the number of attempted terror attacks. This operation was no Operation Defensive Shield, despite the efforts that have been made by Netanyahu’s aides to sell it as such. It isn’t even close to being that. The number of armed wanted men who were killed in the gunfights wasn’t high, when one considers the number of armed men who were present in the refugee camp.”

Haaretz’s Amos Harel notes the relative restraint of Israeli tactics during the operation. “The Israeli use of fire was relatively measured,” he writes. “The soldiers moved in armoured jeeps and on foot. No tanks or armoured personnel carriers (APCs) entered the camp. In any event, following the infamous battle during 2002’s Operation Defensive Shield, when the Palestinians rebuilt the battle-devastated centre of the camp with international aid, they made sure to create alleys narrow enough to prevent the passage of APCs. During the fighting this week, the IDF allowed thousands of civilians to leave the camp for the city. In contrast with previous occasions, this time Israel hardly imposed hardships on the civilian population. No lockdown was imposed on the city, and thousands of Palestinian residents of Jenin left for work within the Green Line on Tuesday as usual. The entry of workers from the Gaza Strip to Israel also continued as usual.”

In other news, Maariv details the Knesset’s Constitution, Law and Justice Committee yesterday ratifying a bill reducing the Supreme Court’s ability to intervene on the grounds of reasonableness. The bill, part of the government’s new reduced package of judicial reforms (see recent BICOM brief), was advanced in committee by 9 votes to 5, and will now proceed to its first vote in the Knesset plenum, perhaps as early as tomorrow. Anti-reform opposition MKs were angry that Deputy Attorney General Gil Limon was only invited to give his opinion on the bill by committee chair Simcha Rothman after voting had already been completed. When he was allowed to speak, Limon said that the bill “damages the rule of law,” adding that “in a democratic state, everyone is subject to the rule of law. Among other things, the government is subject to scrutiny by the opposition. The government’s obligation to act reasonably would de facto be nullified if the proposed legislation were to pass.” Opposition Leader Yair Lapid and National Unity Party Chairman MK Benny Gantz later put out a strongly-worded joint statement: “From the time the new government was formed we have been witness to the complete trampling of the Knesset and of Israeli democracy. The votes today at the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee are a ham-fisted unilateral move that harms Israeli citizens and tears apart the nation. Cancelling the grounds of reasonability without appropriate balances is a prelude to corruption. This bill is not intended to protect citizens, but to protect the politicians. Netanyahu’s actions continue to tear apart Israeli society.”

Also on judicial reform, Kan Radio reports that the government continues to block the formation of the fiercely contested Judicial Selection Committee. Yesh Atid lawmaker Karin Elharar last month became the first of two MKs elected to the committee, while the second vote, set to be held next week, also looks set to elect an anti-judicial reform opposition member. As such, Justice Minister and reform architect Yariv Levin looks likely to continue to refuse to convene the committee. Coalition sources told Maariv that “There isn’t any significance to this election because the current makeup of the committee is irrelevant. During the Knesset’s winter session, the coalition will move forward with a bill to change the makeup of the Judges Selection Committee.”