U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyThe first families have begun to leave the Jenin refugee camp, which has been blocked by Israeli military operations for nearly four days.
Fierce fighting broke out inside the camp on Saturday, with armed groups reportedly fighting in the central area of Damaj as well as near the entrance to the camp, where a large number of armed groups are present.
Amid the gunfire and the constant drone of military drones, the figures of several women and children passed through Israeli military vehicles. Walking alone on a deserted road, they looked small and out of place among military trucks.
Holding her two-month-old daughter in her arms, Oruba Shalabi told us about their experience inside the camp, in fear and pain.
“They shot at us and threw grenades at our home,” she said. “Half our house was bombed. We hid in the kitchen shouting to tell them we were having a baby.
Oruba said she went to the door and told them that the children in the house were scared and had difficulty breathing because of the smoke.
“They told us we had two minutes to get out,” she said. “They checked our phones and IDs, made us stand in the sun for half an hour and then told us to keep moving.”
Getty ImagesOruba left on foot, as did her mother, aunt, sister and niece. It was the first time they had been able to leave their home since Tuesday night.
“No electricity, no water [in the camp],” she said. “They shot anyone who came near the windows. All our neighbors were kicked out and we were all put in a room. They made young people sit on the floor and tied them up.
The battle intensified in Jenin on Saturday. The Palestinian Red Crescent said at least two bodies were inside the camp and could not be retrieved. The Palestinian Health Ministry said one of them was an elderly man.
There were also unconfirmed reports of Israeli military casualties. One of the armed groups, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, said in a statement that its fighters fought an ambush by soldiers in Damaj.
U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyIsrael’s operations this week began with incursions into several cities and refugee camps in the occupied northern West Bank. Over the past three days, the focus of the operation has been narrowed to Jenin as troops were withdrawn from Tulkarem and Tubas.
The Israeli army faced off early Friday morning. Killed man said to be Hamas leader in Jenin Wissam Hazim and two other men were allegedly wanted in connection with the shooting.
But the operation is still ongoing, with reports that Israeli troops are moving deeper into the camp, going door-to-door searching for other wanted criminals.
Israel said it killed 20 armed fighters and seized weapons including M16 rifles and explosive devices during the operation.
The Palestinian Health Ministry in Ramallah said 20 people had died in the West Bank. Among them are children, said Filippo Lazzarini, head of the U.N. agency dealing with Palestinian refugees.
A paramedic told the BBC that one of the deceased was an 82-year-old man whose body was found on Friday with nine gunshot wounds.
ReutersIsrael said it was a counterterrorism operation aimed at dismantling Palestinian armed groups it believed were backed by Iran.
An attempted bomb attack in Tel Aviv earlier this month also sparked fears in Israel that the threat of suicide attacks in Israeli cities will re-emerge.
Overnight, the Israeli army said there were two attempted attacks on settlements in the southern West Bank. Its chief of staff, Hertz Halevi, said the operation being carried out in Jenin was aimed at preventing such attacks.
Tensions over the war in Gaza – and repeated military incursions into the West Bank – are changing attitudes and strategies on both sides. The risk is that they will push the conflict here to a new, more dangerous stage.
