In a series of ongoing air attacks by the Israeli air force in Jenin that started this Monday, nine Palestinians have so far been killed and dozens have been injured, not to mention thousands who are fleeing the city to save their lives.
This Monday night, and yet in another extremely violent decision made by the Netanyahu far-right government, Israel carried out several deadly air strikes against Palestinians in the city of Jenin in the West Bank.
So far, and as the attacks still continue, nine Palestinians have been killed and 100 injured, health officials say. Due to the big number of attacks and the huge volume of fire, Israel’s Monday’s air strike is by far the largest military operation in Jenin in the last two decades.
The latest bloody attack to Jenin was carried out by Israel in 2002, during the second Palestinian intifada, when Israeli forces launched a full-scale incursion in Jenin. Back then, at least 52 Palestinians and 23 Israeli soldiers were killed during 10 days of intense fighting.
What makes this new nightmare scarier, however, is that the Israeli military said there was no specific timeline for ending the operation, and that it could be “a matter of hours or days”. Drones were used for further air strikes and a brigade-size force of troops was deployed in what an Israeli military spokesman described as a “counter-terrorism operation” focused on seizing weapons and breaking “the safe haven mindset of the camp, which has become a hornet’s nest”.
The Israeli military has also cut off telephone communications and the electricity supply to the Jenin refugee camp, where thousands of Palestinians are living, making it difficult to get an accurate picture of what is happening. Palestinian medics have also been struggling to reach the dozens of injured there. Jenin is a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank. It serves as the administrative center of the Jenin Governorate of the State of Palestine and is a major center for the surrounding towns.
When Israel attacks, even refugee camps are not safe!
Due to the intensity of Israel’s air strikes, thousands of Palestinians have fled the Jenin refugee camp to save their lives, a senior Palestinian official has said. “There are about 3,000 people who have left the camp so far,” said Jenin deputy governor Kamal Abu al-Roub, adding that ‘arrangements are being made to house them in schools and other shelters in the city of Jenin”. The Jenin refugee camp was established in 1953 to house Palestinians who fled or were expelled from their homes during and in the aftermath of the 1948 Palestine War. It is now home to more than 18,000 Palestinian refugees.
Juliette Touma, spokesperson for the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, confirmed the emergency evacuation of the camp. UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, also said in a statement that many residents left the camp while in severe need of food, drinking water and milk powder. Monday’s events bring the death toll of Palestinians killed this year in the West Bank to 133,
Arab states condemned the attacks, Washington sided with Israel!
Immediately after the Israeli attacks in Jenin, Arab countries including Jordan, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) condemned the incursion. The irony is that all the three countries are among the Arab states that have normalized relations with Israel.
Washington, however decided to side with the invader and supported Israel; in a statement issued Tuesday morning, the White House said it defended Israel’s right to security and was monitoring the situation on the West Bank closely. We support Israel’s right to self-defense, but the protection of civilians must also be considered,” the statement said.
