Palestinians view the damage following an Israeli military operation, in Jenin in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. (Image: Reuters)
There are fears that the Jenin raid could lead to another uprising – intifada – but a global condemnation could help and restrain Netanyahu.
Israeli forces besieged the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank this week marking the biggest escalation in almost two decades. Around 1,000 Israeli troops entered Jenin between Monday and Tuesday and conducted an operation with airstrikes and military personnel.
The Benjamin Netanyahu-led government insisted that it was a counter-terrorism operation (and Jenin has also sheltered terrorists affiliated with Hamas and the Islamic Jihad) but scores of innocent Palestinian citizens were made refugees once more in their own home. It should be noted that they are refugees because they are not treated as equals by the Israeli government as it controls the governance of the region.
One Israeli soldier died, more than 100 Palestinians were wounded, 12 Palestinians were killed and several of those killed were terrorists. But images and video from pro-Palestinian social media outlets also revealed that citizens who were not suspected of terrorism were adversely impacted due to the operation.
News18 could not independently ascertain the authenticity of the videos.
Inès Abdel Razek, the advocacy director for the Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy, told news agency Vox, that the incident in Jenin which forced scores of Palestinians to flee Jenin reminded many citizens of 1948, which Palestinians call the Nakba, when some 750,000 Palestinians were displaced.
“You’re being displaced and re-displaced and denied your dignity and the right to be free within your homeland,” Razek was quoted as saying by the news outlet.
Israeli forces also sent drones and bulldozers to Jenin. Bulldozers razed homes and drones also bombed specific locations rendering people homeless.
More than 130 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank this year and 52 people have been killed in Jenin. Jenin refugee camp featured in the news last year after Israeli forces allegedly killed Shireen Abu Akleh covering the Israeli raids of Palestinian homes in Jenin.
What Next?
With Israeli conservative parties and the coalition led by Benjamin Netanyahu in power, one can expect more clashes in the coming months. Netanyahu’s firebrand minister Itamar Ben-Gvir who serves as the minister of national security has also signalled that he will not back down. He has encouraged settlers to double-down and settle in Palestinian areas.
He also demanded a private militia earlier this year to be deployed in Israeli-Arab towns.
There are 600,000 Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem and the numbers are expected to grow in the coming months following an aggressive push from Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners.
Jenin is an important aspect in the daily lives of Palestinians. The report by Vox called it “an epicentre of Palestinian resistance”. The refugee camp built there is from 1953 and houses schools, hospitals and several businesses.
Can the US Help?
As the Israeli government announced earlier this year that it has greenlit the establishment of 5,000 new settlements in the West Bank, the US was quick to condemn the move. The Biden administration has also refused to meet with the most extreme cabinet members and representatives of this government.
This indicates there is a shift in public opinion.
But earlier this week, the Biden administration also supported what it referred to as an Israeli policy of “self defence” which further strengthened the position of the Benjamin Netanyahu-government.
The lack of outright condemnation from governments across the world could further fuel confrontations between Israelis and the Palestinians.
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