Israeli security forces launched a deadly military operation in Jenin in the occupied West Bank on Monday, July 3, killing at least eight Palestinians, including three minors, and injuring 50 others. Another Palestinian was shot dead by Israeli forces in Ramallah. The military operation, which started overnight, involved a massive contingent of Israeli forces, including intelligence, military, police, and border police officials along with elite special forces, fully equipped with armored vehicles, snipers, missiles, and drones. More than a 1,000 soldiers and 150 armored vehicles are reportedly part of the raid.
The Palestinian Health Ministry stated that five people had died from gunshot wounds while three others were killed in drone strikes. Many of the injured are in a critical condition in intensive care units in nearby Palestinian hospitals. According to reports, hospital and medical staff complained of obstruction from the Israeli security forces while trying to rescue the injured.
According to Palestinian sources, Israel has carried out at least 10 drone strikes in Jenin since the operation started in the night. Israeli forces have surrounded the city from all sides and imposed a siege while simultaneously carrying out violent raids and searches inside the refugee camp. A number of Palestinians have been arrested.
The raid has also caused extensive property and infrastructure damage. Besides Palestinian homes and residential buildings, public property including the well-known Freedom Theater building, was damaged. The Israeli forces also targeted journalists with live ammunition to prevent them from reporting, causing damage to their equipment. Various roads in the city and its refugee camp were also damaged. Latest reports said that Israeli authorities have cut off the electricity and water supply in Jenin.
Israeli forces claimed they are carrying out a “focused” and “extensive counter-terrorism effort” and since the operation began they have targeted a “joint operations center” being used by the Jenin Brigades, a diverse group of Palestinian resistance fighters from different factions who have mobilized and armed themselves to defend the city and resist the increasing Israeli attacks and invasions.
In response to the indiscriminate violence, Palestinian fighters fired at the Israeli forces and engaged them in a gun battle. They also detonated several explosives targeting Israeli vehicles to try and stop their advance into the city and the refugee camp. In Gaza, Palestinians organized demonstrations to express their solidarity with the people of Jenin and to denounce the Israeli aggression, calling for accountability and justice.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said that the operation was a “barbaric aggression against our people in Jenin and its camp.” It noted that the Israeli forces deliberately targeted “defenseless civilians, including targeting ambulances, crews, and health centers, depriving them of treating the wounded, targeting mosques and homes, and destroying infrastructure.” It also called on the international community to take swift action to stop the violence against Palestinians
The military operation has evoked widespread international condemnation. United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk called the raids a “major intensification of the use of weaponry more generally associated with the conduct of armed hostilities, rather than a law enforcement situation.” He asked Israel to “urgently reset its policies and actions in the West Bank in line with international human rights standards, including protecting and respecting the right to life.” UN humanitarian coordinator in Palestine, Lynn Hastings, also expressed alarm at the “scale of the Israeli operation.” The Organization of Islamic cooperation, Jordan, Egypt, and Qatar have also strongly condemned the military operations in Jenin and called for international pressure to stop it.
Israeli forces have killed scores of Palestinians and wounded several more in similar military raids and operations across the West Bank this year. However, the international community, apart from occasional statements of concern and condemnation, has not taken any concrete action or steps to stop the raids and punish Israel for its human rights abuses and war crimes.
