WEST BANK CRACKDOWN ‘TO END IN DAYS’

West Bank, 26 Sya’ban 1435/24 June 2014 (MINA) – The major Israeli military incursion in the West Bank will come to an end in a few days, a high-ranking Israeli military officer said Monday.

Speaking to the Hebrew-language news site Walla, the officer highlighted that after 11 days, the military operation across the West Bank, with a focus on Hebron district, has failed to find a clue leading to the three teenage settlers believed to have been kidnapped in the southern West Bank, Press TV quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting, Tuesday.

The officer pointed out that overnight detention raids would not stop, although the major incursion would come to an end.

He added that the operation started against what he called “terrorist infrastructure” of Hamas immediately after the Israeli political echelon announced that Hamas was behind the kidnapping.

After 11 days, added the top Israeli officer, the military operation can’t continue in the same pattern especially after the Israeli forces have almost completed their “bank of targets”.

Surprisingly, the officer said the army considers the operation a success, despite that it failed to lead to a clue about the missing teenagers.

The success, he added, is based on the fact that large numbers of Hamas supporters have been detained, and that the infrastructure of Hamas in the West Bank has been crippled. (T/P012/E01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)