Jenin, MINA – Hundreds of Palestinians have been forcibly displaced by the Israeli army amid a military operation in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin and its refugee camp for the fourth consecutive day.
“The Israeli army began clearing entire neighborhoods in the camp after their attack,” a Palestinian woman, who declined to be named, told the Anadolu Agency.
She said Israeli forces have destroyed homes, streets and essential infrastructure in the camp during its deadly onslaught.
“The situation in the camp is extremely difficult amid the violent assault,” she said, adding that water, electricity, and communication networks have been severed.
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The Reuters news agency cited witnesses on Thursday who said residents were forced to leave their homes, prompted by messages from Israeli drones fitted with loudspeakers.
“Yesterday, we did not want to leave, we were at home,” Reuters quoted 16-year-old Hussam Saadi.
“Today, they sent down a drone to our neighborhood, telling us to leave the camp and that they will blow it up,” he said.
The news agency said Israel denied that it had told residents to leave their homes, instead stating that it was “enabling any resident who chooses to exit from the area to do so via secure and organized routes with the protection of Israeli security forces.”
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Dubbed The Iron Wall, the military operation was launched on Tuesday, involving scores of army vehicles and bulldozers, backed by helicopters and drones.
According to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA, Israeli drones have been dropping explosives on the Jenin refugee camp, causing significant panic and destruction.
Since the early hours of Friday morning, the Israeli occupation forces bulldozed sections of Haifa Street in Jenin and the entrances to the towns of Al-Yamoun and Silat Al-Harithiya, west of Jenin, effectively blocking the escape routes of displaced residents heading to nearby villages, the agency reported.
The assault on Jenin city, its refugee camp, and the nearby town of Burqin has resulted in the killing of 12 Palestinian citizens and the injury of dozens of others. The destruction has left extensive damage to infrastructure, compounding the suffering of residents.
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Roland Friedrich, the Director of UNRWA Affairs for the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, noted that Jenin camp “is nearly uninhabitable, with with some 2,000 families displaced since mid-December.”
“UNRWA has been unable to provide full services to the camp in this time,” Friedrich stated.
He said Israel’s military operation “threatens to undermine the fragile ceasefire reached just days ago in Gaza.”[]
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
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