Following the IDF’s two-day raid in the PA city of Jenin, during which 12 terrorists were killed along with an IDF soldier who lost his life as troops were pulling out of the city, Norway’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Anniken Huitfeldt tweeted: “In a call today with my Palestinian counterpart Dr. Riyad Malki, I expressed Norway’s solidarity with the people of Jenin. I condemned the high level of violence and all attacks against civilians. Any military measure must comply with international law. The cycle of violence must end.”
Today’s, Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs blasted the minister’s remarks with a statement of their own.
“These kinds of statements do not contribute to calming the situation on the ground and encourage radicalization and incitement on the Palestinian side,” said the ministry, adding that “her remarks regarding the events, while ignoring the terrorist attack against Israelis in Tel Aviv or the rocket fire from Gaza, do not contribute to the dialogue between Israel and Norway.”
On Tuesday, as the army was continuing its raid of Jenin, a terrorist ran over two groups of pedestrians in Tel Aviv before getting out and continuing to stab onlookers with a knife. Armed civilians and a police officer intervened, killing the perpetrator. Eight people were injured in the attack; five of them seriously.
The terrorist was later identified as a 23-year-old resident of the Mount Hebron region.
The attack came a day after a teenage terrorist stabbed a Jewish man in the haredi city of Bnei Brak.
On Tuesday night, as Israeli troops were withdrawing from Jenin, five rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip towards Israel.
The City of Sderot reported that the remains of one of the rockets hit a home in the city. There were no injuries, but damage was caused to a wall in the home. The family members were in a protected space at the time of the rocket attack.
In response to the attack, IDF fighter jets struck an underground weapons manufacturing facility used by the chemical department of the Hamas terrorist organization, as well as a raw materials manufacturing facility for rockets belonging to Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
“The IDF holds the Hamas terrorist organization responsible for all terror activities emanating from the Gaza Strip and will face the consequences of security violations against Israel,” it said in a statement.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres joined a chorus of international officials and Arab states expressing concern with the operation in Jenin this past Monday.
“The Secretary-General is deeply concerned about the developments in Jenin. He affirms that all military operations must be conducted with full respect for international humanitarian law,” said a spokesperson for Guterres in a statement.
Earlier, the White House stated that the Biden administration was watching the operation “with concern” and called on the Palestinian Authority not to follow through on its announcement that security cooperation with Israel would be stopped.
Israel slams Norway’s FM: ‘Encouraging incitement, extremism’ | ערוץ 7 (israelnationalnews.com)