“Women and children are the most affected during this, as soldiers deliberately intimidate them and shoot over their heads during their displacement.” [Getty]
Hours after Israeli officials threatened to tighten a security grip and expand the illegal annexation of the occupied West Bank, the Israeli military assault, particularly in Jenin, has been devastating. Â
Dozens of military vehicles participated in the raid, which was concentrated in the Jenin neighbourhoods close to the refugee camp. Unlike previous raids, most of the camp residents are now displaced, forced to shelter in towns adjacent to the city.
The main hospitals in Jenin are still besieged, while the Israeli army placed dirt barriers at all entrances to Jenin Governmental Hospital to prevent entry or exit permanently.
At the same time, the Palestinian Authority arrested Palestinian resistance fighters after they were able to leave the Jenin camp. PA’s security forces surrounded Al-Razi Hospital and arrested two wounded people from within the premises, accusing them of being members of the Jenin Battalion.
Expanding genocide
What is clear about this massive assault, which Israeli officials dubbed the “Iron Wall,” is the large number of displaced people from Jenin camp, whose lives have become difficult due to the lack of living conditions.
“It looks like Gaza,” Asri Fayyad, a resident of Jenin camp, described to The New Arab while talking about his forced displacement.
“We stayed in the camp for two days. There was no electricity, no water, no bread, even no milk for the children. The first day witnessed a violent incursion aimed at intimidation. The entire targeting was only against civilians, and more than fifty were injured and thrown in the streets,” Fayyad said.
The Palestinian residents began to flee from the camp towards the Awda roundabout. They were reportedly subjected to searches during that time, and the Israeli army divided them into groups of five, photographed them and examined their fingerprints and eyes.
Whoever the soldier wanted to arrest him was put aside, stripped of his clothes, tied up, and blindfolded, according to eyewitnesses.Â
The displaced people were prohibited from using vehicles, so they were forced to walk more than a kilometre on foot, carrying only basic items with them.
“The land was completely bulldozed and muddy and difficult to walk on. Even the streets have disappeared due to Israel’s use of giant D10 bulldozers. The Israeli army demolished three houses in the camp and burned others. There are fears that residential squares will be blown up, as happened in Gaza,” he added.
Israeli soldiers occupied a number of high-rise houses and deployed snipers. The bombing was repeated from time to time against specific targets.
“The displaced are still living in harsh conditions and a lack of services in light of the tight Israeli siege on the city and the prevention of aid from entering them,” Fayyad noted.
Shock and fear
About 17 thousand Palestinians live in Jenin camp, but most have been displaced since the start of the Palestinian Authority‘s security campaign a month and a half ago due to deteriorating living conditions and the denial of services.
Farha Abu Al-Haija, a member of the Popular Committee for Camp Services, told TNA that Jenin‘s entrances are sealed and no one is allowed to enter, while the Israeli army forced the residents to leave it forcibly after threatening to blow up their homes.
Every day, from nine in the morning until five in the afternoon, dozens of Palestinians begin their exodus from the camp under strict security measures imposed by the Israeli army.
“Women and children are the most affected during this, as soldiers deliberately intimidate them and shoot over their heads during their displacement. There are sick cases, citizens with special needs, and the elderly. All of them were subjected to humiliation and abuse,” she added.
In light of the freezing weather, the displaced lack means of heating and blankets, and the Israeli army prevents the entry of aid to them. There are those who were displaced to the homes of their relatives, and there are those who were forced to spend the night in public centres and mosques.
“The situation is painful, sad, and disturbing in this cold climate, and citizens are living in a state of shock and fear of what might happen to their homes, which were almost destroyed from previous [Israeli] incursions,” she added.
The camp’s resident have survived one siege to another, and the size of the Israeli incursion includes many military vehicles and aircraft flying in the sky all the time.
The number of detainees from the camp is not yet known due to the continued siege on Jenin and the prevention of any movement. It is slowly turning into a major humanitarian catastrophe, pushed by an Israeli army seeking to achieve any image of victory.
