fetal- The sounds of gunfire in Jenin camp have not subsided for more than a month, and nothing on the horizon suggests an imminent solution to the crisis between the resistance fighters inside the camp and the security services of the Palestinian National Authority, which insist on continuing its security operation in the camp.
As a result, approximately 14 thousand people are forced to bear the consequences of this campaign, including water shortages, electricity outages, and the establishment of security barriers at the entrances to the camp. Residents say that holders of the camp ID are prohibited from entering and leaving it, and that armored vehicles belonging to the authorities close the entrances to the camp from all sides, which means the necessity of inspection and interrogation every time residents try to pass by.
For its part, the Palestinian Authority says, through the spokesman for its security forces, Anwar Rajab, that “the camp is not under siege as is rumored, and that anyone can enter the camp without question.” He confirms that security personnel provide water by distributing it to homes from time to time.
Rajab also confirmed that the entry of civil defense crews and electricity company workers was secured to repair electricity transformers more than once, but he accuses the resistance fighters inside the camp of shooting at the shops after they were repaired, which the resistance fighters and residents alike deny.
Big risk
Umm Suhaib, one of those who have been witnessing the security tension in the camp for more than a month, says, “We are trying to secure basic needs such as food from outside the camp, but leaving the house is very dangerous. We go out in front of the eyes of snipers deployed on the roofs of tall buildings in all corners of the camp, and we pass by Next to the armored vehicles of the authority, and at every pass they ask about our IDs and search our cell phones. The situation is very difficult, there is no safety at all. Every time we go out to buy food we fear that we will be infected.”
She added in her interview with Tel Aviv Tribune Net, “While we are waiting for a solution, things are getting more complicated day after day. Yesterday, a group of people in the neighboring villages tried to bring in bags of bread to distribute to the people in the camp, but the authority’s security services prevented cars from entering and confiscated quantities of bread, and none of it reached the families here.” “The situation is very catastrophic. We are facing cold, without electricity, and we are experiencing water and food shortages day after day.”
Residents also say that the security personnel present on a daily basis at the entrances to the camp check the identities of those entering it, and prevent some cars, water tankers, and even taxis from entering unless coordinated in advance.
Umm Suhaib goes back to saying, “There are no stores in the camp that sell meat or poultry, not even bakeries. We are forced to buy all of that from outside the camp under bullets and constant clashes.” She adds, “Young people leaving homes are very dangerous, and expose them to either injury or arrest, so securing needs has become The daily routine is the responsibility of the women in every family. We go out of the house to provide bread, medicine, and water, but even going out has become dangerous in light of the continued shooting.”
No treatment
This morning, the camp residents woke up to the sounds of successive explosions and heavy gunfire towards homes. They were talking about attempts by Palestinian Authority members to advance into the camp, and the resistance fighters confronted these attempts.
One of the most prominent of these clashes was what happened on Mahyoub Street, which witnessed a limited advance by Palestinian security forces, which led to the injury of a number of citizens. Umm Suhaib says that the sounds of screaming were very clear, followed by the sounds of ambulances trying to transport the injured.
She confirms that medical care in the camp for nearly 40 days has become very bad. The UNRWA clinic is closed due to the events, and patients find it difficult to go out to receive treatment from outside the camp, in addition to the difficulty of ambulances reaching a large number of alleys, which requires the work of volunteers from inside the camp. The casualties were transported on bicycle-drawn carts, while security personnel prevented a number of them from working, and some of them were subjected to interrogation.
She explains, “There are many elderly people who need treatment for diabetes and asthma, and a number of cancer patients, and some of them need oxygen devices connected to electricity, which are already cut off, and there are no pharmacies on duty inside the camp. We are suffering greatly. A solution must be found as soon as possible.”
One of the leaders of the Jenin Battalion spoke in a statement yesterday, Saturday, that the Authority’s security services arrested a large number of injured people in the camp and from Jenin Governmental Hospital, in response from the battalion to the statements of the Security Forces spokesman during a press conference held last Thursday, in which he said that the Authority So far, it has arrested 274 people, describing them as “outlaws.”
Narrowing
Amidst the intense sound of bullets, Mays Al-Ghoul spoke to Al-Jazeera Net about the difficult conditions, “There is no bread in the house. I tried to go out to secure a loaf of bread, but the sniper motioned for me to return home. We sleep and wake up afraid of the bullets reaching us. All the camp’s houses were subjected to intense fire.” The walls of the houses all have traces of bullets on them.”
The citizen, a mother of 5 children, complains of the lack of resources in the camp, and that people are forced to leave their jobs as tension there increases day after day, which means an increase in the number of unemployed people. She says, “I am the sole breadwinner for my children. I used to work outside the camp for a daily wage, and since the beginning of With the security campaign, I was unable to commit to my daily work. Today, I cannot pay the rent for the house, nor provide food for my children, nor secure cooking gas, for example.”
She added, “My child needs a vaccine for 6 months, and the UNRWA clinic is closed, which means that he and all the children in the camp who are the same age or younger will not be able to take him. We are living in very difficult conditions and for no fault of ours.”
She commented on the camp’s situation by saying, “The truth is that what is happening is more difficult than the occupation’s incursions because this army is our enemy, but being deprived of the basic necessities of life because of our own people is more difficult for us.”
The speaker was forced to leave her home after the recent raid by the Israeli occupation forces into the Jenin camp last September, when her house was burned and she lost all of her possessions in it. Today, she has lost her job and finds it difficult to secure food for her five children due to the authority’s security campaign.
