Israeli occupation murdered at least 9 Palestinians in an invasion of the Jenin refugee camp, inside the occupied West Bank, on Thursday morning, leading to large scale protests throughout the territory and an escalation in violent tensions. In reaction to this, the United Nations decided not to punish Israel, but to urge the Palestinian Authority to maintain close security coordination. The incident is the most significant escalation in the territory since 2005, during what was known as the Second Intifada.
At around 7:00 AM (Palestine time), an Israeli special forces team was allegedly spotted in the Jenin refugee camp, to which Palestinian resistance fighters, belonging to the ‘Jenin Brigades’, were deployed to defend against. Suddenly, the electricity was cut off in the camp and a large force of Israeli occupation soldiers and military vehicles stormed the camp. As usual, the fighters in the camp, mostly young men between the ages of 18-25 years old, came forth to confront the Israeli raiding forces with light weapons. After hours of battles, Israeli forces had murdered at least 9 Palestinians, leaving dozens wounded. Journalists were forbidden from entering the camp, so too were medical crews and ambulances, as of a new order issued by the Israeli military that forbids both medical workers and journalists from entering areas they raid.
During the invasion of the refugee camp Israeli forces fired tear gas directly into the Ibn Sina hospital, prevented the injured from receiving medical attention, and used ‘Energa’ anti-tank missiles to target a building, in which two Palestinians were burnt alive as a result of. The reported goal of the Israeli raid was to arrest a leader of the Burkin subgroup of the Jenin Brigades of the PIJ movement, named Ziad Sabbagh. Sabbagh is the son of a prominent commander named Ala’ Sabbagh, who led the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades (unofficial armed wing of Fatah) during the Second Intifada and was killed by Israeli forces. Ziad Sabbagh managed to escape the building in which two other members of his armed group were incinerated, but was captured and beaten severely when running away.
There seems to have been some indication that Israel’s raid may have gone sideways, as the Al-Qassam brigades (Hamas armed wing) in Jenin had reported that an Israeli soldier had been killed during the incursion into the refugee camp. This news of a dead Israeli soldier has not been confirmed with any physical evidence and so far the Israeli army has not reported any losses. What we do know is that the occupation forces behaved in a brutal fashion. One of the victims of the Israeli aggression was killed after Israeli forces shot him and then ran over his head, crushing his skull. Another victim was a 61 year old Palestinian woman, who was shot twice in the neck and once in the chest. Four of the men that were killed were hit by live bullets to the head and one to the chest, whilst the other two were burned alive as a result of the missiles fired into a building.
Israeli media presented the results of the massacre as a victory and continues to report that “9 Palestinian gunmen” were killed in an “anti-terror” operation. This is despite the fact that three of those killed were innocent, unarmed, civilians that were deliberately murdered, including an old woman who was shot three times. The affiliations of the 9 Palestinians initially announced dead are as follows; three were members of the PIJ movement, two were part of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the other four were unaffiliated, one of which was said to have been fighting but was not part of any group and decided to pick up a weapon and defend against Israeli forces. Another element to the massacre is that Israeli occupation forces shot dead a member of the Palestinian Authority’s security force, that was fighting against them.
In reaction to the massacre, Palestinians throughout the West Bank decided to protest. From throwing stones at Israeli forces to non-violent sit-ins, the people went out to revolt against the mass killings. As a result, at least two Palestinian protesters were shot dead by Israeli forces. This brought the total death toll in the West Bank, during the first 26 days of this year, to 31.
PA Cancellation Of Israel Security Coordination
The Palestinian Authority (PA) based in Ramallah, announced that it would hold a press briefing at 5:30 PM (Palestine time), to announce their reaction to the massacre in Jenin. Initially they declared three days of mourning and that the Palestinian flag was to be flown at half-mast, whilst insider sources alleged that the announcement would be the cancellation of PA security coordination with Israel. A United Nations delegation allegedly contacted the PA to urge them not to cancel security coordination, threatening negative consequences for them taking such a step. The press briefing was delayed for around forty minutes, likely due to international intervention to prevent the PA from taking this step. Nevertheless, the Palestinian Authority announced publicly that they are suspending security coordination with Israel, will call for an urgent UN security council meeting, and are going to take the case of the massacre to the International Court of Justice.
The suspension of security coordination is a huge step, if it is actually implemented. This will mean that the PA’s forces will no longer be notified or obligated to leave areas the Israeli military enter, will not coordinate with the occupation forces on intelligence files and hand over intel to the Israeli army, they will also stop foiling attacks on Israeli forces, and will not arrest Palestinians for planning attacks on Israelis. Since 2020, the PA has announced that it was going to take this step three times, so there is suspicion as to whether this will be properly implemented this time around. One interesting development is that PA security forces seemed to have withdrawn from areas that they used to patrol for the purpose of ensuring the safety of Israeli forces and settlers, such as at the Jospeh’s tomb site near Nablus.
Internationally, the most significant condemnations of Israel came in from Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt, but Western powers refused to condemn that act. The mere fact that the United Nations delegation attempted to pressure the PA not to respond by ending security coordination says a lot about the function of the body and what it is being used for. Further armed attacks against Israel are expected as a response to the massacre.
Gaza Strikes
Later that night, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement fired 2 rockets at Ashkelon, both of which caused no damage. Israel then proceeded, in the early hours of Friday morning, to launch airstrikes against the Gaza Strip, firing at least 15 missiles into the al-Maghazi refugee camp area and causing damage to homes. Whilst Israel attacked, the armed wing of Hamas, the al-Qassam brigades, launched domestically made anti-air missiles towards Israeli fighter jets to deter them from entering the besieged coastal enclaves airspace. A further two bursts of ineffective rockets were fired, triggering Israeli air defense systems, but not doing any damage. Israel then struck Gaza again near Beit Lahia (located in Northern Gaza), as Palestinian resistance forces again fired anti-air SAM missiles towards the attacking Israeli fighter jets.
The rocket fire from the Palestinian groups in Gaza came as a response to the massacre in Jenin and was a strategic escalation to link the West Bank’s struggle to Gaza, it also represented the first test to the new Israeli government as to how it will set its policy when it comes to responding to rocket fire. Israel claims that it severely damaged the capabilities of Hamas with its airstrikes, alleging that they had managed to destroy an underground missile production facility. Every time the Israeli military strikes Gaza it claims that it inflicts a massive blow, however, it almost never is able to significantly impact the ability of the armed groups to produce and fire rockets. In order to impress the Israeli public, the occupation military claims that it has destroyed significant targets routinely, which has made it somewhat of a laughing stock in the Middle East due to its constant lying about such matters. The next step in a possible escalation of tensions will now depend on the events that will transpire in the coming days.
