Jenin, symbol of resistance turns into ‘ghost town’

Palestinian residents call Israels’ ongoing offensive the most deadly and destructive since Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s reinvasion of the occupied West Bank in 2002 when the Israeli army took over the camp after 10 days of brutal fighting

- Michael Jansen

Since January 21st, Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank has been under assault from Israeli ground troops, tanks, warplanes, helicopters, and drones. Bulldozers have flattened homes, torn up roads and water mains. Apartment blocks have been torched and blown up. Israeli troops have blockaded besieged Jenin Sina Hospital and snipers have entered into hospital building and grounds. Ambulances and medical teams are prevented from reaching wounded and ailing civilians. All 3,250 residential units in the Jenin camp have been made uninhabitable during the Israeli offensive. Israeli forces have expelled the 24,000 refugees from Jenin camp. Jenin city’s Mayor Nidal al-Obeidi said that the situation is “catastrophic.”

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF - Doctors Without Borders) have reported that “Israel’s ‘Iron Wall’ operation” “has effectively trippled the three refugee camps in Jenin, Tulkarem and Nur Shams in the Northern West Bank. MSF warned that 40,000 Palestinian have been displaced in the region and are without shelter, services and health care. “The scale of forced displacement and destruction of the camps has not been seen for decades. People are unable to return to their homes as Israeli forces have blocked access to the camps, destroying homes and infrastructure. Camps have become ruins and dust. Israel must stop this, and the humanitarian response needs to be scaled up,” stated Safaa Director of Operations-Bride de la Ligne.