Jenin Refugee Camp (West Bank), Sep 6: Israeli forces appeared to have withdrawn from three refugee camps in the occupied West Bank by Friday morning, after a more than weeklong military operation that left dozens dead and a trail of destruction.
Overnight, Israeli armoured personnel carriers were seen leaving the Jenin refugee camp from a checkpoint set up on one of the main roads.
After days largely trapped in their homes, residents of the Jenin camp emerged to take stock of the damage from what officials said was the most destructive assault in years. Twisted rebar protruded from the concrete of collapsed buildings. Walls still standing were pockmarked by bullets and shrapnel.
During the operation, Israeli military officials said they were targeting militants in Jenin, Tulkarem and the Al-Faraa refugee camps in an attempt to curb recent attacks against Israeli civilians. They say such attacks have become more sophisticated and deadly since Israel launched its campaign in Gaza in response to Hamas’ attack on Israel nearly 11 months ago.
Troops were pulled out of the Tulkarem camp by Friday morning and had left Al-Faraa earlier, but in a statement the Israeli military suggested that the operation wasn’t yet over.
Hundreds of Israeli troops have been involved for more than a week in what has been their deadliest operation in the occupied West Bank since the Israel-Hamas war began, employing what the United Nations called “lethal war-like tactics”.
The main focus has been the Jenin refugee camp, a densely built district home to around 20,000 Palestinians where armed groups – including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, but also other factions advocating “resistance” to Israel’s occupation – have a powerful presence.
Fighting in Jenin accounts for 21 of 39 Palestinians who local health officials say have been killed during the Israeli push in the West Bank. The military says most have been militants.
The fighting has had a devastating effect on Palestinian civilians living in Jenin.
Water and electric services have been cut, families have been confined to their homes and ambulances evacuating the wounded have been stopped on their way to nearby hospitals, as Israeli soldiers search for militants. Israeli military bulldozers ripped up roads.
Jenin’s governor, Kamal Abu al-Rub, said that the damage to infrastructure was extensive.
An Israeli military acknowledged the infrastructure destruction, but said it was because of militants’ strategy of planting explosives in civilian areas. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with military regulations.
US woman fatally shot
An American woman was shot and killed in the West Bank on Friday, two doctors told The Associated Press.
Dr. Ward Basalat said that the 26-year-old woman was shot in the head and died after arriving at a hospital.
Witnesses and Palestinian media reported that the woman was shot by Israeli troops while attending a pro-Palestinian demonstration against settlement expansion in the northern West Bank.
The Israeli military didn’t immediately comment on the shooting.
The woman was believed to have been shot while attending the protest against settlement expansion in the Palestinian town of Beita, north of Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The protests happen regularly and have grown violent in the past.
A month ago, American citizen Amado Sison was shot in the leg by Israeli forces, he said, as he tried to flee tear gas and live fire. (AP)
