Editing Operation Defensive Shield (section)

===Jenin===
{{see also|Battle of Jenin (2002)}}
[[File:חומת מגן 29.jpg|thumb|Israeli soldiers in Jenin]]
According to Israeli authorities, Jenin became a central base for terror groups and terror attacks mounted by several organizations, including [[Palestinian Islamic Jihad]], [[Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades]], and [[Hamas]]. The IDF spokesman attributed 23 of the 60 suicide bombers that attacked Israel in 2002 to Palestinians from Jenin.<ref>{{cite web|title=Suicide Bombers from Jenin |publisher=Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs |access-date=October 18, 2008 |date=July 2, 2002 |url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2002/7/Suicide%20Bombers%20from%20Jenin |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080705043647/http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2002/7/Suicide%20Bombers%20from%20Jenin |archive-date=July 5, 2008 }}</ref>

On April 2, more than 1,000 IDF soldiers entered the camp, calling civilians and non-combatants to leave. An estimated 13,000 Palestinians were housed in Jenin prior to the operation.

The operation was led by the 5th Infantry Brigade, which had not yet been trained in [[Close combat|close-quarters combat]]. During a series of sweeps, the Israeli military claimed the entire camp was booby-trapped. At least 2,000 bombs and booby traps were planted throughout the camp.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archives.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/meast/04/22/jenin.fighter/index.html|title=Palestinian fighter describes 'hard fight' in Jenin|date=April 23, 2002|access-date=19 December 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080109035330/http://archives.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/meast/04/22/jenin.fighter/index.html|archive-date=9 January 2008}}</ref> In response to the discovery, the Israelis dispatched [[IDF Caterpillar D9|combat bulldozer]]s to detonate any bombs that were placed in the streets.

Israeli commanders were still not confident that soldiers would be safe from booby traps and [[improvised explosive device]]s (IEDs). A rapid ground attack would clearly be costly in IDF lives, but political pressure from the United States and elsewhere required a rapid end to the fighting. Former defense minister [[Shaul Mofaz]] promised combat-operations would be over by April 6, but that was clearly impossible.<ref name="hare">{{cite book |publisher=Yedioth Aharonoth Books and Chemed Books |isbn=978-965-511-767-7 |last=Harel |first=Amos |author2=Avi Isacharoff |title=The Seventh War |location=Tel-Aviv |year=2004|language=he}}</ref> The IDF slowly advanced into the city, encountering fierce resistance. Most of the fighting was conducted by infantry fighting house-to-house, while armored bulldozers were used to clear away booby traps and IEDs. Air support was limited to helicopter gunships firing wire-guided missiles.<ref>Dershowitz, Alan (2002): ''The Case for Israel''. </ref> Palestinian commander [[Mahmoud Tawalbe]] was killed during the battle. According to a British military expert, he was killed by an Israeli bulldozer, while the Palestinians claimed that blew himself up to collapse a house on Israeli soldiers.

On the third day of operations, an IDF unit wandered into a Palestinian ambush. Thirteen Israeli soldiers were killed and three of the bodies were captured before a [[Shayetet 13]] naval commando unit could retrieve them.

After the ambush, the Israeli military developed a tactic that allowed units to advance farther and more safely into the camps. Israeli commanders would send an armored bulldozer to ram the corner of a house, creating a hole.<ref name="hare"/> An [[IDF Achzarit]] would then enter the hole, allowing troops to clear the house without going through booby-trapped doors. Palestinian resistance was halted following the adoption of the bulldozer method, and most residents of the Hawashin neighborhood surrendered before it was leveled. Palestinian commander Hazem Qabha refused to surrender and was killed.

Throughout the [[Battle of Jenin (2002)|Battle of Jenin]], and for a few days afterwards, the city and its refugee camp were under total closure. There was much concern at the time about possible human rights violations occurring in the camp. Allegations of a massacre in Jenin were spread by Palestinians in order to create pressure on Israel to halt the operation. Claims of complete destruction of the Jenin refugee camp, a massacre of 500 civilians, and mass graves being dug by Israeli soldiers were proven false after a United Nations investigation. Reports of a large-scale massacre were found to be untrue, a result of confusion resulting from the Israeli refusal to allow entry to outside observers, and/or Palestinian [[media manipulation]].<ref>{{cite news|date=3 May 2002|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/1965471.stm|work=BBC News|title='No Jenin massacre' says rights group}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|work=[[USA Today]]|date=1 August 2002|url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2002-08-01-unreport-jenin_x.htm|title=U.N. report: No massacre in Jenin}}</ref>

Ultimately, the Jenin incursion resulted in the deaths of 52 Palestinians. According to Israel, five were civilians and the rest were militants. [[Human Rights Watch]] reported that 27 militants and 22 civilians, as well as three unidentified persons, had been killed, based mostly on witness interviews.<ref name=Time/> Israeli losses totalled 23 soldiers killed and 75 wounded.