The Palestinian Authority described the events as a “massacre” and announced that it will stop cooperating on security with Israel.
The United States regretted that decision by the government of Mahmoud Abbas: “We do not believe that it is the right decision at this time,” said a spokesman in Washington.
The US State Department announced that the head of US diplomacy, Antony Blinken, will travel next week to Israel and the West Bank to “reduce tensions” between the sides.
The mission appears difficult given that Israel’s far-right government has declared its intention to expand settlements in occupied Palestinian territory.
Since the beginning of this year, up to 30 Palestinians, civilians or members of armed groups, have lost their lives in violence with Israeli forces or civilians.
An Israeli military spokesman indicated that the army had carried out “an anti-terrorist operation” against the armed organization Islamic Jihad, implicated in several attacks.
Excess
Before withdrawing, the Israeli forces “deliberately threw tear gas grenades” into the pediatric ward of a Jenin hospital, which “caused some children to suffocate,” denounced the Palestinian Minister of Health, Mai Al Kaila.
“No one deliberately fired tear gas at a hospital, but the operation was carried out not far from a hospital and it is possible that tear gas entered through an open window,” an Israeli army spokesman replied.
In addition, another Palestinian was shot dead by Israeli security forces yesterday in Al Ram, near Jerusalem. The circumstances of this death were not specified.
During the raid on Jenin, Israeli soldiers fired at several “terrorists” during the firefight, the army said. In addition, they entered a building where there were “suspects,” he added.
“The resistance is everywhere and is prepared for the next confrontation in case the fascist government (of Benjamin Netanyahu) and its criminal army continue to attack our people, our land and our holy places,” said Tariq Salmi, a spokesman for the Islamic Jihad.
In the late morning, emergency services were working among the rubble in the Jenin camp, where the walls of several buildings were blackened by fires.
Women
One of the victims was called Majeda Obeid, a 61-year-old woman, and her daughter explained how she lost her life during the military operation.
“When he finished praying, he looked out the window for a moment and then received a bullet wound to the neck. His body fell towards the wall and then onto the ground,” Kefiyat Obeid, 26, said.
The Jenin camp, established in 1953, is like a city within a city and is home to about 20,000 refugees, according to UNRWA, the UN agency in charge of Palestinian refugees.
In May 2022, Palestinian-American journalist Shirin Abu Akleh, star of Al Jazeera television, was killed – allegedly under Israeli fire – while covering a military incursion.
The Israeli army, which has occupied the West Bank since 1967, carries out operations almost daily in that Palestinian territory, particularly in the north in the Jenin and Nablus sectors, strongholds of armed Palestinian groups.
“The Israeli army destroys everything and shoots at everything that moves,” said the deputy governor of Jenin, Kamal Abu Al Rub, adding that the inhabitants live “in a state of war.”
According to the Red Cross, the evacuation of many wounded was difficult, Minister Al Kaila said.
The Palestinian official called for an “emergency meeting” to be held with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
“What is happening in Jenin and in its countryside is a massacre perpetrated by the Israeli occupation government,” said Nabil Abu Rudeina, a spokesman for Abbas’s president.
The secretary general of the Arab League denounced a “bloody massacre” perpetrated “under the direct orders of Netanyahu”, who resumed power at the end of last year.
Source: Ambito
