One of the deadliest days in the occupied West Bank since Israeli raids increased at the beginning of last year saw 10 Palestinians slain by Israeli forces.
Nine Palestinians were murdered, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, as Israeli forces attacked the Jenin refugee camp.
In the town of al-Ram, north of Jerusalem, Israeli troops shot the other Palestinian, a 22-year-old man.
At least 20 other people were shot with live ammunition during the Jenin raid, which the Palestinians have referred to as a “massacre”. They were all in critical condition—four of them.
An elderly woman was among the fatalities, according to Palestinian authorities. The administrators of the Jenin hospital recognized her as Magda Obaid.
Following the executions, Israeli soldiers announced their withdrawal from Jenin and stated that they were checking into the woman’s death reports.
Izz al-Din Salahat, a member of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, an armed force connected to the Palestinian political organization Fatah, was among the deceased.
Saeb Azriqi, 24, died from his injuries at a hospital, according to the health ministry.
It claimed that the situation on the ground was extremely challenging and that injured people were having trouble getting to hospitals because Israeli forces were blocking ambulances and medical personnel.
According to the size of the invasion and the number of injuries, there is “an invasion that is unparalleled,” Wissam Baker, director of the public hospital in Jenin, told Al Jazeera.
The ambulance driver attempted to reach one of the martyrs who was lying on the ground, but Israeli forces opened fire straight at the ambulance, preventing them from getting close to him, Baker continued.
The hospital’s children’s division was hit by tear gas canisters fired by Israeli forces, according to Baker. Children and others suffered suffocation injuries as a result, he continued.
The Israeli military denied purposefully launching tear gas at the hospital. An army spokeswoman claimed that no one intentionally fired tear gas inside a hospital. However, the hospital was not far from the activity, so it’s plausible that some tear gas entered through an unlocked window.
Following the assassinations in the West Bank, the Palestinian Authority (PA) made the announcement through its spokesperson, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, that it would no longer coordinate security with Israel.
He said during a press conference in Ramallah, “As of today it will not be enforced,” adding that the action was in response to Israel’s persistent attacks on Palestinians and violations of international law.
The spokesman continued, “We salute those standing steadfastly defending our motherland.
He also demanded that the International Criminal Court look into the killings on Thursday.
Flags will fly at half-mast for the third day of the mourning period, PA President Mahmoud Abbas announced, according to the official Palestinian TV.
PM Shtayyeh requests UN action
The United Nations and all international human rights organizations have been urged to “intervene promptly to provide protection for the Palestinian people and stop the killing of children, youth, and women,” according to a statement from Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh.
According to the Saudi Press Agency, the foreign ministry of Saudi Arabia denounced the Israeli raid on Jenin and urged the international community to put an end to Israel’s growing aggression.
The chairman of the Hamas movement, which controls the blockaded Gaza Strip, Saleh al-Arouri, declared that the “resistance’s answer will not be delayed.”
From Gaza, Youmna el-Sayed of Al Jazeera said that Palestinian factions, including Hamas, have proclaimed a day of mourning and a state of alert.
They urged the international community to prosecute the “occupation criminals” for their crimes and, in the end, urged Gazans to take to the streets to protest the carnage that had taken place in Jenin, according to el-Sayed.
The Israeli military used the detention of Islamic Jihad terrorists suspected of plotting and carrying out “several significant terror attacks” to justify sending special forces into Jenin.
In the early hours, Israeli forces conducted a massive operation and surrounded the camp with snipers, undercover troops, and hundreds of armored vehicles. Soon, armed confrontations with Palestinian resistance forces erupted.
The military also stated that after they fired, some Palestinian combatants were wounded.
The security personnel worked to encircle the building where the suspects were throughout the operation. Security officers neutralized two armed individuals who were identified as they fled the area, according to a statement from Israeli authorities.
Israeli forces were not reported to have suffered any injuries.
Vedant Patel, a spokesman for the State Department of the United States, concurred with Israel in referring to the incident as a “counterterrorism operation” on Thursday.
The Palestinian Authority and Israel face very significant security challenges, and Patel told reporters, “We condemn terrorist groups planning and carrying out atrocities against innocent populations.”
We lament the deaths of innocent people and the harm done to civilians, and we are very worried about the West Bank’s spiraling cycle of violence.
Israel has increased operations in Jenin and other northern West Bank cities over the past year in an effort to crush the escalating armed Palestinian resistance.
The Israeli action in Jenin on Thursday “should be regarded as a signal – it is the first shot in a future, larger Israeli operation,” according to Aleef Sabbagh, a political analyst who specializes in Israeli issues.
Israel is encouraged to carry out its raids and executions since there has been no reaction to what it is doing, Sabbagh said Al Jazeera.
“There has been no accountability for the shooting at ambulances and hospitals, stopping relief to the injured, carrying out field executions, or even killing Shireen Abu Akleh. Israel will continue to act however it pleases if there is no real, powerful response.
Shireen Abu Akleh, a seasoned reporter for Al Jazeera with more than 25 years of experience in the occupied Palestinian territory, was fatally shot in May 2017 while documenting a raid on the Jenin refugee camp.
Her murder has not yet resulted in any charges being filed.
Mawan Bishara, senior political analyst for Al Jazeera, observed that “fighting ‘terrorism’ has a magical sound to it in the international arena. Even when something is wholly inaccurate, it might nevertheless justify it.
The analyst stated that while Israel defends its activities on the basis of security, the Palestinians “view that as a cynical trick aimed at humiliating the Palestinian authority.”
According to the rules of the Oslo Accord, the raid occurred in so-called Area A, which is under Palestinian administrative and law enforcement jurisdiction.
It’s not like these young people in the refugee camp are going out into Israel and shooting at Israelis; they are just attempting to protect themselves, said Bishara.
At least 29 Palestinians, including five children, have already been slain by Israeli soldiers during operations in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem in January. Jenin was the home of at least 15 of those who died.
In such raids in 2022, more than 170 Palestinians—many of them civilians—were slain.
