on January 26, 2023, 4:15 pm
https://www.dumptheguardian.com/world/2023/jan/26/palestinians-say-nine-killed-in-israeli-raid-on-jenin-refugee-camp
Israeli forces have killed nine Palestinians during a raid in the north of the occupied West Bank in the deadliest single day in the territory in years, leaving international mediators scrambling to prevent the violence from escalating.
A 60-year-old woman and a male civilian were among the dead, the Palestinian health ministry said, and about 20 more people were seriously injured in the violence on Thursday morning. Two of the casualties were claimed by the militant group Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another four by Hamas, and one by the armed wing of the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah faction.
Israel Defence Forces (IDF) soldiers arrived at daybreak at several entrances of the Jenin refugee camp, a militant stronghold in the north of the Palestinian territory, said Sakir Khader, a Palestinian-Dutch film-maker at the scene. Armed Palestinians shot at an Israeli armoured vehicle disguised as a commercial van, at which point the IDF returned fire and a fierce four-hour gun battle ensued, causing widespread damage, he said.
“I was stuck in the middle of the firefight for hours,” Khader said. “It was crazy. There were snipers and drones and they used a bulldozer to block off a street. It destroyed lots of cars and a public meeting spot.
“At the hospital there are mothers looking for their sons … Everything is still very tense. I have been coming to Palestine all my life and I have never seen something like this.”
“The situation in Jenin camp is very critical,” the Palestinian health minister, Mai al-Kaila, said in a statement. Israeli forces had prevented ambulances from reaching the injured, she added.
UN and Arab mediators said on Thursday afternoon that negotiations were being held with Israel and Palestinian factions across the West Bank and Gaza Strip in an effort to calm the situation.
Israel did not give any immediate indication it was engaged in talks. The ddefence minister, Yoav Gallant, directed forces in the occupied West Bank and on the Gaza frontier to go on heightened alert.
The IDF said in a statement that it conducted the unusual daytime operation, which ventured deep into the camp, because of intelligence suggesting a cell linked to Palestinian Islamic Jihad was planning to carry out imminent attacks against Israelis.
The army also denied firing teargas at a nearby hospital after an unverified video emerged showing children in the paediatric ward choking and coughing. Teargas had probably wafted inside the hospital from the clashes nearby, it said. There were no Israeli casualties.
Thursday’s bloodshed in Jenin is the latest development in Operation Breakwater, a nine-month-old Israeli military campaign that has targeted Palestinian factions in the northern West Bank city and nearby Nablus on a near-nightly basis. It was launched in response to a wave of Palestinian terrorist attacks last spring.
The operation has contributed to the highest death toll in the occupied West Bank since the second intifada, or Palestinian uprising, concluded in 2005, with about 250 Palestinians and 30 Israelis killed last year, according to rights groups. Another 29 Palestinians, among them fighters and civilians, have been killed so far in 2023.
As funeral processions through Jenin got under way on Thursday afternoon, Abbas declared three days of mourning and ordered flags at half mast. A general strike was also declared on Thursday across the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, and by lunchtime, hundreds of people had headed towards Israeli military checkpoints to protest.
At the Beit El checkpoint near Ramallah, soldiers fired teargas at the demonstrators, some of whom threw stones and lit tyres on fire. Three Palestinians in the area were reportedly shot and seriously injured, according to local media.
“It is the same story again and again. The occupation does not stop killing us, so we will not stop resisting,” said Nour, a 22-year-old student who wrapped her face in a black and white keffiyeh to protect against the teargas.
Tensions in the decades-long conflict have soared as a result of the escalating violence, and recent polling suggests that support for the dormant peace process has reached an all-time low on both sides.
The recent election of the most rightwing government in Israeli history is expected to inflame an already volatile situation. Members of the Israeli coalition have pledged to accelerate the building of Jewish settlements in the West Bank – a practice that negates the possibility of a two-state solution – and loosen the rules of engagement for soldiers and police.
Stressing the single worst day angle makes it sound like the apartheid state hasn't been killing Palestinians non-stop.
Interesting kind of raid when you turn up in an armoured vehicle disguised as a "commercial vehicle". Nice and clear and open that one.
Immediately gets the IDF version of everything in in the first few graphs; all the victims claimed by these bad terrorist organisations don't ya know? Except the 60 year old woman and the male civilian of course.
Every point framed from the occupying power's side; every action "in response" to Palestinian aggression.
Disgusting, cowardly "journalism" and more disgusting, cowardly murder by the apartheid state.
...no amount of cajolery, and no attempts at ethical or social seduction, can eradicate from my heart a deep burning hatred for the Tory Party...So far as I am concerned they are lower than vermin.
Responses
« Back to index | View thread »