Israeli Military Withdraws from Jenin After Deadly Assault: Report
The Palestinian news agency Wafa reported on Friday that the occupation forces had left the city after a 10-day siege, though residents remain concerned that soldiers might return, having temporarily relocated to nearby military checkpoints.
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, at least 21 Palestinians, including children and the elderly, were killed in Jenin over the past few days, with at least 130 more injured.
The Israeli attacks, launched on August 28, targeted Jenin and Tulkarem among other areas in the northern West Bank, marking the largest assault on the occupied territory since the second Intifada in the early 2000s.
"Palestinians in Jenin are finally able to come out of their homes and assess the damage, while those who had to leave are returning," said journalist Leila Warah, reporting from Ramallah. She noted that the Israeli military remains active in other parts of the West Bank, with attacks in the Nablus and Balata refugee camps and raids in Bethlehem, al-Khalil, and Ramallah.
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Jenin residents used the lull in violence to sift through the rubble of destroyed buildings and evaluate the damage. Wafa reported that military checkpoints around Jenin remain active, raising fears of future incursions.
Ahead of the reported withdrawal, five Palestinians were "severely beaten" on Thursday night by Israeli forces at the al-Jalama military checkpoint north of Jenin, according to Wafa.
Aziz Taleb, a 48-year-old father of seven, discovered that his family home of 20 years in Jenin had been raided. "Thank God [the children] left the day before. They went to stay with our neighbors," Taleb told the AFP news agency as he surveyed the damage.
Imra Itisadeh, a 60-year-old Jenin resident, said, "At first, we didn’t want to leave. Later, [the Israeli army] pressured us, and we had to leave our homes. I left with my husband [on foot]."
In a statement on Facebook, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the Israeli regime has transferred to the West Bank the same level of destruction and devastation that the Gaza Strip has been experiencing for 11 months.
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The ministry described the raids in Jenin and Tulkarem as "a clear targeting of Palestinian civilians and the foundations of their national and human existence on their homeland."
During a raid in Nablus, Israeli forces arrested two university students from their homes. A 30-year-old Palestinian man was also injured by shrapnel from bullets fired by Israeli forces following a raid on the Balata refugee camp, located east of Nablus. Israeli soldiers also stormed the town of Idhna, west of Hebron, where they raided a house.
The siege on al-Khalil has continued for the fifth consecutive day, with soldiers closing all entrances to the governorate after conducting three operations in less than 48 hours.
Source: Agencies
