(Jenin) Nine Palestinians were killed Monday in Jenin, in the north of the occupied West Bank, during a vast operation by the Israeli army, which mobilized hundreds of soldiers and made use of drones in particular.
During this incursion, the largest of the Israeli army in the West Bank for several years, shootings and explosions shook the city of Jenin and the adjacent refugee camp, a stronghold of Palestinian armed groups targeted several times by Israeli operations.
“About 3,000 people have already left the camp,” Jenin deputy governor Kamal Abu al-Roub told AFP late in the evening, adding that measures were being taken to accommodate them in schools and other premises. from the city of Jenin.
Juliette Touma, spokeswoman for the UN agency for Palestine refugees, confirmed that residents were leaving the camp where some 18,000 Palestinians live.
The new Israeli operation comes as the northern occupied West Bank has seen a recent spate of attacks on Israelis as well as anti-Palestinian violence by Jewish settlers.
PHOTO RANEEN SAWAFTA, REUTERS
“Our forces entered the nest of terrorists in Jenin. […] they are destroying command centers and seizing a considerable quantity of weapons,” Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said in a statement.
The number of troops involved is “at the level of a brigade”, Israeli army spokesman Richard Hecht said.
Palestinians were throwing stones at Israeli soldiers under a sky blackened by smoke from explosions and burning barricades, an AFP correspondent noted.
Nine Palestinians were killed and 100 others were injured – 20 of whom are in serious condition – according to the latest report from the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
PHOTO JAAFAR ASHTIYEH, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Young Palestinians take shelter during an Israeli military operation in the city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank.
“There are aerial bombardments and an invasion on the ground,” Mahmoud al-Saadi, director of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society in Jenin, told AFP. “Several houses and sites were bombed. […] Smoke rises everywhere. »
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry denounced “an open war against the population in Jenin. »
“Worst raid in five years”
On Monday, the Israeli army reported clashes between soldiers and gunmen at a mosque in the Jenin camp, adding that weapons and explosives were later found there.
She also said she targeted “terrorist infrastructure” and an “operations center” serving as a command center for the “Jenin Brigade”, a local armed group.
“I saw bulldozers in the camp destroying houses,” resident Badr Shagoul told AFP.
At the city hospital, an AFP reporter saw bodies lying in the morgue, some for hours, as relatives waited for the funeral fighting to end.
“We received many wounded, hit by explosives from the sky, many also wounded by gunshots,” says Qasem Benighader, a 35-year-old nurse. It’s the worst raid in five years. »
PHOTO RANEEN SAWAFTA, REUTERS
Ambulances on a street in Jenin
“Gross violation”
Military spokesman Richard Hecht claimed that the army was “acting against specific targets” and that “the airstrike, right in the heart of the camp [de Jénine]took them by surprise,” adding that there was no specific timeline for the ongoing operation.
The situation is “catastrophic”, deplores Mahmoud Hawashin, resident of the Jenin camp. “If more Palestinian blood will flow, there will also be more Israeli blood flowing. »
“All options are on the table to strike the enemy,” warned Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hamas leader Ishmael Haniyeh, denouncing a “brutal” Israeli operation.
Abroad, neighboring Jordan denounced “a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, as well as of Israel’s obligations as an occupying power”.
The Emirates, another Arab country with diplomatic ties to Israel, called on Israel to “refrain from any action that heightens tensions […] and leading to the perpetuation of the cycle of violence”.
The Arab League announced an emergency meeting on Tuesday.
“We support Israel’s security and its right to defend its people,” a State Department spokesman said in Washington, adding that it was “imperative to take every possible precaution to avoid the death of civilians.” “.
Elsewhere in the West Bank, a man was killed Monday by the Israeli army in Al-Bireh, near Ramallah, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
Violence linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has killed at least 186 Palestinians, 25 Israelis, 1 Ukrainian and 1 Italian since the beginning of the year, according to an AFP count established from an official source.