JENIN, Palestinian Territories: Israeli forces withdrew after a deadly 10-day raid in a flashpoint city in the occupied West Bank Friday, witnesses said, as key ally Germany warned against treating the territory like Gaza.
There was no official confirmation that Israel’s military had withdrawn from Jenin, a bastion of Palestinian armed groups, but AFP journalists reported residents returning home.
The pull-out came with Israel at loggerheads with its main ally the United States over talks aimed at forging a truce in the Gaza war, now nearly in its 12th month.
On Thursday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged both Israel and Hamas to finalise a truce deal, saying: “I think based on what I’ve seen, 90 percent is agreed.”
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied this in an interview with Fox News, saying: “It’s not close.”
Washington and fellow mediators Qatar and Egypt have been pushing a proposal to bridge gaps between both sides.
Netanyahu insists on a military presence on the border between Gaza and Egypt along the so-called Philadelphi Corridor.
Hamas is demanding a complete Israeli withdrawal, saying it agreed months ago to a proposal outlined by US President Joe Biden.
In Israel on Friday, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said that “a purely military approach is no solution to the situation in Gaza”, after the recovery of six dead hostages announced on Sunday. Before also visiting Ramallah, she warned against calls by hardline right-wing members of Israel’s cabinet for the military to take a similar approach to the West Bank as in Gaza.
“When members of the Israeli government themselves call for the same approach in the West Bank as in Gaza, that is precisely what acutely endangers Israel’s security,” Baerbock told reporters.
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