Hundreds of Palestinians fled the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank this Thursday as a result of an Israeli army operation against armed resistance groups.
Coded with the name of the Iron Wall, the military offensive also includes bulldozers, planes and armored vehicles that act under the same scorched earth principle with which Israel devastated the Gaza Strip in 15 months of war against Hamas and other Palestinian groups.
The operation, which so far has claimed the lives of more than 10 Palestinians and the destruction of numerous properties, began a day after the inauguration of US President Donald Trump, whose Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, promised “firm support.” from the United States to Israel in a phone call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Since October 2023, at least 850 Palestinians have died in the West Bank at the hands of the Israeli army or settlers, according to the Ministry of Health of the territories administered by the interim government chaired by Mahmut Abbas, strongly questioned for its security policies associated with Israel. .
This Thursday, the Palestinian government condemned the new offensive against the occupied West Bank. His Foreign Affairs and Expatriates portfolio criticized in a statement the military campaign, the displacement of the population, the destruction of infrastructure and the collective punishments carried out against the Palestinians.
A statement warned that the operation is part of a plan aimed at perpetuating the occupation, imposing Israeli law and gradually annexing the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
For its part, the United Arab Emirates Foreign Ministry urged the international community to stop Israeli hostilities in the Palestinian territory of the West Bank and called on the world to “unify efforts to stop the escalation and avoid a bloodbath.”
The organization also suggested supporting regional and international efforts to resume the peace process and urged to stop illegal acts that hinder the achievement of a peaceful solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict within the two-state formula.
Meanwhile, Israel’s new onslaught on West Bank soil, intensified after the ceasefire in Gaza, threatens the fragile situation in the Palestinian territories, the NGO Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) warned this Thursday.
“Israel’s military operations and an increase in settler attacks have increased insecurity and displacement” of Palestinian residents, the NGO led by former UN humanitarian coordinator Jan Egeland stressed in a statement.
NRC warned in particular about the Israeli military campaign launched last Tuesday in the refugee camp in the West Bank city of Jenin and its surroundings. “We see worrying patterns of illegal use of force in the West Bank in an unnecessary, indiscriminate and disproportionate manner, reminiscent of the tactics used by Israeli forces in Gaza,” NRC stressed.
Quoted by an office of the Spanish agency EFE, The NRC recalls that 75% of the 13,400 inhabitants of Jenin are displaced due to the campaigns to take control of the city, in which the Palestinian Authority also participates.
Tents in northern Gaza
Palestinians in northern Gaza this Thursday prepared tent camps for displaced families two days before they are scheduled to return to their places of origin, in accordance with the ceasefire schedule agreed between Israel and Hamas.
In an open field surrounded by ruined buildings, a group of men began to erect rows of white tents to accommodate families who plan to return to the north this Saturday, when Hamas releases a second group of hostages in exchange for dozens of imprisoned Palestinians. for Israel, described a dispatch from the British agency Reuters.
Many of the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians expected to return to the northern Gaza Strip will return to their ruined homes after 15 months of an Israeli military offensive that has devastated the enclave and killed nearly 48,000 Gazans.
Hamas published a statement this Thursday in which it announced that the return of displaced families would begin once Saturday’s exchange was completed and once Israeli forces had withdrawn from the northern coastal highway. At least four hostages are expected to be handed over to Israel on Saturday.
Amid a fragile truce, an Israeli tank killed two Gazans in Rafah, in the south of the enclave, highlighting the concerns of many Palestinians about the strength of the staggered ceasefire, according to the local civil emergency service. .
