Attachments
OVERVIEW
On 3 July 2023, Israeli forces conducted a two-day large- scale air and ground operation in Jenin Refugee Camp and its surroundings. This is the largest Israeli operation in the occupied West Bank since 2002 (The Guardian 04/07/2023; OCHA 04/07/2023 and 03/07/2023). The objective of the operation, as stated, was to counter the presence of armed Palestinians in Jenin (Reuters 05/07/2023).
During the operation, civilians were affected. Over 3,500 of the estimated 14,000 camp residents fled and found refuge in governmental buildings, hospitals, mosques, and churches in neighbouring villages (OCHA 04/07/2023; Al Jazeera 04/07/2023 a; The Guardian 04/07/2023). Most of the displaced were able to return to the camp, but about 40 families remain displaced (OCHA 10/07/2023).
During the raid, the Israeli forces killed 12 Palestinians, including four children. The operation injured more than 100, and more than 120 were detained (Al Jazeera 04/07/2023 a; The Guardian 04/07/2023; BBC 06/07/2023).
The raid caused extensive damage to roads, homes, cars, and public infrastructure. The main water pipeline and three main electric transformers were damaged, leaving camp residents without drinking water and electricity during the operation. As at 10 July 2023, the camp was largely without water (OCHA 10/07/2023, UNRWA 09/07/2023; OCHA 03/07/2023; OCHA 04/07/2023).
The Israeli forces restricted access to the camp during the raid by bulldozing many of the roads leading to it and setting a checkpoint at the only remaining entrance. Medical responders reported that Israeli forces prevented and delayed ambulances from entering the camp, forcing some paramedics to enter on foot to provide medical assistance (OCHA 03/07/2023).
JENIN REFUGEE CAMP
Jenin Refugee Camp is a crowded 0.42km2 camp housing more than 14,000 people. The camp is in Jenin governorate in northern West Bank, just three miles from the demarcation line separating the West Bank from Israel (Al Jazeera 04/07/2023 b; NYT 04/07/2023; UNRWA accessed 06/07/2023).
The refugee camp was established in 1953 to accommodate Palestinians expelled by Israeli forces from around 54 villages and cities in Haifa and Nazareth in 1948 (UNRWA accessed 06/07/2023; UNRWA 03/2015; Al Jazeera 04/07/2023 b). Jenin Refugee Camp is one of 19 Palestinian refugee camps in the West Bank (UNRWA accessed 06/07/2023).
At the height of the second Intifada in 2002, the camp witnessed a ten-day battle. 52 Palestinians died, and 400 houses were destroyed, leaving one quarter of the camp’s residents without shelter after the military operation (NYT 04/07/2023; UNRWA accessed 06/07/2023).