'We are reliving the Nakba': Palestinians in Jenin describe the Israeli attack on the refugee camp

Israel's latest attack on the Jenin refugee camp ended in the first hours of Wednesday, more than 48 hours after it started around midnight on Sunday, residents in the camp confirmed to The New Arab.

The raid, which has killed at least 13 Palestinians, and wounded more than 100, including 20 in critical condition according to the Palestinian health ministry, was described by residents as the most brutal escalation by Israeli forces against the camp in twenty years.

In the largest deployment of forces on a single Palestinian community in the West Bank since 2002, the Israeli army pushed hundreds of soldiers and armoured vehicles into Jenin, preceded by military bulldozers razing streets, and air strikes from drones and helicopters on the centre of the camp.

"This is a brutal show off of force by the occupation," said Mostafa Shita, director of the Freedom Theater of Jenin, located close to the location of an Israeli air strike on Monday.

Terrified Palestinian child talks about how the lsraeli warplanes bombed their neighbour house in Jenin camp. pic.twitter.com/w7Qf7BlBSE

— TIMES OF GAZA (@Timesofgaza) July 4, 2023

"A group of people had gathered near the theatre, probably feeling that the location was safer because of its proximity to the theatre, but a drone striker hit very close to them," he explained. "The theatre’s building itself, though, was not directly hit,"

"All residents had been expecting a large military operation, as Israeli leaders have been calling for it lately, but we didn't expect so many forces to be deployed in such a disproportionate way," said Shita.

"The occupation forces pushed hard into the centre of the camp, cutting off internal streets and isolating neighbourhoods from each other, razing streets with bulldozers, destroying infrastructure in a completely unnecessary explosion of force," he added. "We still don’t have complete information from the centre of the camp, as the occupation forces have sealed off all entrances, and even ambulances haven't been able to get through."

Shatha Hanaysheh, a Palestinian journalist based in Jenin, told TNA that "the first air strike hit the exact centre of the Jenin camp, then more followed, all inside the perimeter of the 1 square kilometre refugee camp."

This is not a video game, this is Jenin today's morning!

filmed by the BBC’s Jimmy Michael pic.twitter.com/s328t0QSh5

— Sarah Hassan (@Sarah_Hassan94) July 4, 2023

"Military bulldozers then entered razing the streets, peeling the pavement off and destroying the water pipes network, which forced Jenin municipality to shut the water provision off the camp, and now residents are completely deprived of running water," explained Hanaysheh.

"The occupation forces blocked all access to the camp's centre, but confrontations between them and the fighters are still ongoing, as the sound of locally-made explosives continues to be heard around the clock," she added. "Despite the large magnitude of the raid, the occupation hasn’t achieved anything, which is why we believe that they will not leave anytime soon."

The Jenin public hospital took in the largest number of wounded and casualties since early Monday. A first responder in the hospital's emergency unit, who asked not to be named, told TNA that "wounded arrived by the dozens throughout Monday, to the point that the emergency unit was overwhelmed."

"Most of the wounded were hit in the abdomen, the chest or the back, the majority of them young," said the medical worker. "The hospital itself was targeted with tear gas by the occupation twice, once on Tuesday morning and once in the afternoon."

"At least seven cases were pronounced dead in the hospital, and regular services have been almost stopped, as the entire staff is in a state of emergency, and we don’t know for how long this situation will continue," they added.

Israeli occupation forces directly fire tear gas at Palestinian civilians sheltering inside the Jenin Public Hospital, this morning. pic.twitter.com/4oiRxrj3NQ

— Palestine Electronic Forces (@PEFMISSIONS) July 4, 2023

In the early hours of Tuesday, dozens of Palestinian families began to leave the refugee camp, fleeing Israeli air strikes. Yousef Kamil, a resident of Jenin who received four families in his house, said to TNA, "Families began to arrive late at night with their children and little belongings except for some covers, but some brought extra clothes."

"All the people in Jenin and the surrounding villages opened their houses, and we all made sure the displaced families don't lack anything," said Kamil. "They were tired, some were weeping, and the atmosphere was one of anger and pain."

"All those who came out of the camp said that their houses or their immediate neighbouring area were hit by the occupation's air strikes, and despite that they are in the hundreds, the majority of residents of the camp are still in their houses," he added.

While fleeing from the Jenin camp, one Palestinian father told Palestinian media that "the occupation announced that they will bomb random targets and they are giving us the chance to leave, so I left with my wife and my daughter."

"Our neighbourhood was bombed, the house's roof was hit too," said another. "We don't know where to go now," he added. "We are reliving the Nakba."