The Israeli army is carrying out raids in Jenin in the occupied West Bank, blocking aid access for Palestinians in the besieged refugee camp, on the fourth day of its assault.
Dozens of Israeli soldiers were stationed outside the Jenin refugee camp, while Israeli military jeeps and armoured personnel carriers moved into the area.
Israeli forces blew up homes in the Jabriyat neighborhood of the camp, launching their largest military offensive on Palestinian territory in more than 20 years.
The Israeli army announced on Saturday the first death of a soldier since the start of its raid four days ago.
An army statement said Elkana Navon, 20, “fell during operational activity” on Saturday and that another soldier was “seriously injured” in the same incident, without providing details.
Tel Aviv Tribune journalist Nour Odeh said in Jenin: “Jenin is a ghost town. All the shops are closed. No one leaves their homes.”
Paramedics had difficulty contacting people in the camp as telecommunications were blocked.
“Palestinian residents continue to call for food, water and relief,” Odeh said. “This is the fourth day and the residents of the refugee camp have virtually no access to outside help.”
Several armed clashes between Palestinian fighters and Israeli soldiers were reported in Jenin, Odeh reported, adding that videos on social media show extensive damage in the area.
Hamas’s military wing said its members “engaged in armed clashes” with Israeli forces in the village of Kafr Dan, west of the city.
Israeli troops, accompanied by armored vehicles, drones and bulldozers, launched simultaneous raids on Jenin, Tulkarem and Tubas on Wednesday.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said an “elderly man” was killed in Jenin, without specifying his age, bringing the total death toll from the military raids to 20.
The Israeli military says its goal is to target armed groups in the West Bank and prevent future attacks. It says it has killed 20 Palestinian fighters and arrested 17.
Among the Palestinians reported dead since Wednesday, Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad said at least 14 were members of their armed wings.
Palestinian residents say the trail of destruction left by the military incursion – which destroyed infrastructure, roads, water and electricity facilities – suggests the army’s aim is to make the territory uninhabitable and drive Palestinians from their homes.
“Israel’s plans include annexing Palestinian lands, ultimately getting rid of the Palestinian population and ethnically cleansing the West Bank and Gaza,” Mohamad Elmasry, a professor at the Doha Institute for Advanced Studies, told Tel Aviv Tribune.
Israel has been encouraged by the lack of U.S. response to its ongoing war in Gaza, he said. “So if it can do it there, why can’t it do it in the West Bank?”
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has condemned Israeli forces for their “unlawful use of force” and called for an “immediate end” to the ongoing attack in the Jenin refugee camp.
“The use of military weapons and tactics in policing raises serious concerns about a systematic disregard for the rights of the Palestinian population and contributes to an escalation of violence and insecurity,” he said in a statement Saturday.
“The only way to ensure the security of Palestinians and Israelis is to end the occupation.”
Two attacks on illegal settlements
In the southern West Bank, tensions escalated after Israeli soldiers shot dead two Palestinians suspected of trying to attack Israelis in two separate incidents Friday night.
The army said in a statement that troops responding to a vehicle that caught fire and exploded at a gas station at the southern Gush Etzion junction killed a suspected assailant “who got out of the vehicle and attempted to attack” the soldiers.
In a second incident, attackers drove a car into the gates leading to the illegal settlement of Karmei Tzur and infiltrated the area. One of the attackers was killed.
Security forces were dispatched to the area to search for other attackers, the army said.
Israeli rescue services Magen David Adom said they were treating three people with moderate and light injuries. Two of them were shot at the Gush Etzion junction and a third was injured when his vehicle collided with the attackers’, rescue services said.
Tel Aviv Tribune’s Odeh said the situation in Hebron – the territory’s largest district and home to around a million people – was particularly tense, with Israeli forces setting up several checkpoints.
The ongoing raids are the largest and most violent since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza. The parallel conflict in the West Bank has left about 600 Palestinians dead, according to figures from the UN Office of Humanitarian Affairs.
The number of arrests since the start of the offensive in the West Bank stands at around 70, according to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society and the Committee for Detainees and Ex-Detainees’ Affairs.
