Deadly Israeli raid in Jenin leads to mass displacement, destruction

Israeli forces continue operation in occupied West Bank city, a day after 10 Palestinians were killed.

Israeli military vehicles take part in an Israeli raid in Jenin [Ammar Awad/Reuters]

Published On 22 Jan 202522 Jan 2025

Israeli forces have continued their deadly raid in Jenin in the occupied West Bank, destroying infrastructure and forcing the displacement of about 2,000 families.

The operations on Wednesday included bulldozing key streets and come a day after ground and air attacks killed at least 10 people across Jenin governorate.

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Kamal Abu al-Rub, the governor of Jenin, was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying the situation in Jenin was “very difficult”.

“The occupation army has bulldozed all the roads leading to the Jenin [refugee] camp and Jenin Government Hospital. … There is shooting and explosions,” he added.

According to al-Rub, Israeli forces also detained about 20 people from villages near Jenin.

Palestinian men hold up ID cards to pass a checkpoint during an Israeli raid in Jenin in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on January 22, 2025 [Ammar Awad/Reuters]

The Israeli military said in a statement on Wednesday that it carried out aerial attacks on “terror infrastructure sites”, adding that “numerous explosives planted on the routes” were “dismantled”.

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“The Israeli forces are continuing the operation,” it added.

Adel Besher, a Jenin resident, told Al Jazeera he had to spend the night in a hospital courtyard because he was unable to reach home during the Israeli operations.

“Even though my house is 200 metres [220 yards] from here, I couldn’t reach it. There are many injured people, among them doctors, nurses and patients,” he said.

“There were also three or four people injured near my house, and no one was able to rescue them. Israeli forces shot at whoever got near them. Two were injured while trying to rescue them.”

The operation in Jenin, where the Israeli army has carried out multiple raids and large-scale incursions in recent years, comes days after a ceasefire took effect in the Gaza Strip and underscores the threat of more violence in the West Bank.

Before the Israeli action, the Palestinian Authority’s security forces carried out a weeks-long operation to reassert control of the city of Jenin as well as its refugee camp.

Last week, an Israeli air raid on the refugee camp killed at least three Palestinians and wounded many more.

The West Bank director of UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, said Jenin camp was “nearly uninhabitable”.

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“Some 2,000 families displaced since mid-December. UNRWA has been unable to provide full services to the camp in this time,” Roland Friedrich said on X.

UN Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese condemned what she called Israel’s “death machinery” and its attacks on Jenin.

“If it is not forced to stop, Israel’s genocide of Palestinians will not be confined to Gaza. Mark my words,” she said on X.

Raids elsewhere

Israeli forces also stormed the town of Deir Sammit, west of Hebron, raiding homes of prisoners scheduled to be released as part of the first phase of the ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.

The military also stormed the Aida camp in Bethlehem in the south, launching a wide-scale arrest campaign.

Wafa, the Palestinian news agency, reported that Israeli forces tightened security for the third consecutive day at most entrances and exits of the governorates in the West Bank.

Videos shared by Palestinians and verified by Al Jazeera showed dozens of vehicles stuck in traffic at the Atara checkpoint near Ramallah due to heightened security.

Israeli raids in the West Bank have escalated since Israel’s war on Gaza began on October 7, 2023. Nearly 900 people have been killed there and more than 9,700 arrested, according to local rights groups and health officials.

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Source: Al Jazeera and news agencies