NINE PALESTINIANS KILLED AS ISRAEL BOMBS JENIN IN LARGE-SCALE MILITARY CAMPAIGN

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Mon 03 July 2023:

Early Monday, Israel launched a large-scale military attack in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, carrying out drone strikes on multiple buildings while armoured vehicles and snipers encircled its refugee camp.

A convoy of dozens of Israeli armoured vehicles also surrounded the refugee camp and launched a ground military operation, causing heavy damage to homes and roads.

The number of Palestinians killed by the Israeli army in the Jenin refugee camp has risen to eight, the Palestinian Ministry of Health  says.

It said 50 people have been injured, including 10 currently in critical condition.

A ninth Palestinian is shot dead by Israeli soldiers near Ramallah.

Four were killed from gunshot wounds and identified as Sameeh Abu Al-Wafa, Hosam Abu Theba, Aws al-Hanoun and Nour-eddin Marshoud. The remaining three died in drone strikes. 

The ministry said the number of casualties was likely to rise because there is a high number of critical injuries and because Israeli army bulldozers were blocking paramedics from reaching some areas.

The ministry identified the names of the four people killed in Jenin as Sameeh Abu al-Wafa, Hussam Abu Theeba, Aws al-Hanoun and Nour el-Din Marshoud, noting that they were all shot in the chest and head.

The army continued to enforce a siege on the camp on Monday morning, closing off all entrances with tractors.

Al Jazeera’s Jerusalem bureau chief Walid al-Omari said “some 150 armoured vehicles and about 1,000 soldiers from elite special forces and the military, as well as general intelligence, police and border police” were taking part in the operation.

“They are enforcing a total siege on the camp, while special forces are operating inside the camp, raiding homes, searching them and arresting many people,” al-Omari said.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society urgently called for a “safe passage to evacuate the wounded and injured”.

“We are coordinating with the Red Cross and international organizations to force Israel to open a safe passage. The number of wounded and injuries is on the rise,” the organization said in a statement on Monday.

The head of surgery at the Ibn Sina hospital in Jenin, Tawfeeq al-Shobaki, told Al Jazeera that “there are still injured people in the camp that the medical teams are facing difficulty reaching”.

He noted that “there are people that underwent surgery and are still in the intensive care units [ICUs] and [who] are in need of constant monitoring and may need further surgery”.

“Things are under control at the moment but there is fear of an increase in the number of people injured. We are in contact with other hospitals inside and outside Jenin to provide more ICU and surgery rooms.”

“Two civilians were directly hit in front me,” Abu Sabra told MEE as the sound of sniper gunshots were heard in the background during the interview.

He said one of them was seriously wounded after a sniper struck him in the head and he likely died on his way to hospital, although Palestinian health officials have not confirmed the death. 

“He just stood and wasn’t doing anything. He was not armed and wasn’t even throwing rocks at the armoured vehicles,” Abu Sabra said. 

He added that the camp’s entrances and alleyways are besieged from every direction, making movement very difficult for civilians stuck inside. 

Paramedics trying to reach some neighbourhoods were targeted with Israeli fire, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said.

Journalists with the Al Araby TV channel also came under fire, leaving some of their equipment damaged.

Translation: The moment Al Araby TV team was targeted and shots were fired at the camera and the live broadcast device while it was covering the storming of Jenin

The Jenin Brigades, the most prominent armed group in the city established in 2021, said in a statement it was responding with a counter operation aimed at stopping the Israeli advance. 

Heavy armed clashes and large blasts were heard throughout Jenin, including in the refugee camp, as Israeli troops encircled the area. 

Translation: The moment an explosive detonated targeting an Israeli army bulldozer.  

Several explosive devices planted by Palestinians were detonated, likely targeting Israeli army vehicles. No Israeli casualties have been reported. 

Local media said Israeli armoured bulldozers were advancing towards the Jenin refugee camp, tearing apart streets to clear them of potential bombs planted on roadsides. Some Israeli tanks were spotted on the outskirts of Jenin. 

Unarmed civilians in Jenin also took to the streets to confront Israeli troops, burning tyres and throwing rocks at army vehicles.   

 

For the past two years, Israel has increased deadly raids on Jenin, killing more than 100 Palestinians from the northern West Bank city since 2022. 

The latest raid two weeks ago killed at least six people but faced fierce Palestinian resistance, forcing the military to deploy Apache attack helicopters to evacuate army vehicles stuck for hours in an ambush set by local fighters.

Two days later, an Israeli drone killed three Palestinians near Jenin, in the first aerial attack in the occupied West Bank in nearly 20 years.

The Jenin camp, which lies at the heart of the city, is half a square kilometre in size and home to some 13,000 refugees. 

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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