Eight Palestinians martyred as Israel launches air raids on the Jenin refugee camp in the northern occupied West Bank.
According to interanational media reports, A ninth Palestinian, 21-year-old Mohammad Hasanein, was martyred overnight on Monday by the Israeli army at the northern entrance to the city of Ramallah in the central occupied West Bank, the health ministry said. At least two dozen other Palestinians were injured in the camp, including many who remain in critical condition.
As per Arab media reports, residents said Israel launched at least 10 air attacks in Jenin overnight on Monday, sending smoke billowing from the wreckage of buildings. A convoy of dozens of Israeli armoured vehicles also surrounded the refugee camp and launched a ground military operation, causing heavy damage to homes and roads.
The attacks on Monday came amid escalating violence in the West Bank, including the first Israeli drone assault in the area since 2006, increasing military raids on Jenin and northern occupied Palestinian territories and settler attacks in Palestinian villages.
“Those are the homemade Palestinian explosives that wounded eight Israeli soldiers during last month’s Israeli raid on the Jenin refugee camp. This was something that caught the Israeli forces by surprise and led to the use of choppers to drop missiles on Palestinians. This is the first incident of its kind that we’ve seen in the refugee camp and in the occupied West Bank in roughly 20 years,” Arab media reported.
The army continued to enforce a siege on the camp on Monday morning, closing off all entrances with tractors.
In a statement on Monday morning, the Palestinian Authority’s foreign ministry said it “condemns in the strongest terms the barbaric aggression of the occupation against our people in Jenin and its camp”, and held the Israeli government responsible.
It noted that the Israeli aggression targeted “defenceless civilians, including targeting ambulances, crews, and health centres, depriving them of treating the wounded, targeting mosques and homes, and destroying infrastructure”.
The ministry said it “calls for urgent international and American intervention to stop the aggression immediately, and calls on the International Criminal Court to break its silence and start holding the Israeli war criminals accountable”.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society urgently called for a “safe passage to evacuate the wounded and injured”.
“We are coordinating with the Red Cross and international organisations to force Israel to open a safe passage. The number of wounded and injuries is on the rise,” the organisation said in a statement on Monday.
