The occupation continues its fierce campaign in Jenin camp and the death toll rises

On Friday evening, a Palestinian was killed and another was injured by Israeli occupation forces in the city of Jenin, north of the occupied West Bank, bringing the number of martyrs in the operation launched by the Israeli army since midnight Tuesday/Wednesday to 20.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said in a statement, "Our crews are dealing with a martyr in the eastern neighborhood of Jenin who was transferred to the hospital."

Under cover of the air force, large forces of the Israeli army stormed Jenin, Tulkarm, their camps, and the Far'a camp, near Tubas, before withdrawing at dawn on Thursday from the Far'a camp, and in the evening of the same day from Tulkarm.

In Jenin, operations are still ongoing, as the Israeli army has sent armored forces reinforced by the air force into the city, raided parts of the Jenin camp, and poured the weight of its forces into the eastern neighborhood, which witnessed armed clashes and the sounds of explosions resulting from resistance fighters detonating explosive devices at Israeli forces, and others launched by the army.

Earlier on Friday, the Israeli army announced that it had killed three Hamas fighters, including the movement's commander in Jenin, in an air strike.

Eyewitnesses at the scene said, "Israeli forces carried out an attack on a car in the town of Zababdeh, southeast of Jenin."

They said Israeli soldiers searched the car after the raid, and paramedics removed body parts from it.

The Israeli statement said: “During the military operation of the army, the Shin Bet and the Border Police in the northern West Bank, the forces in the last hours spotted a cell of militants led by the leader of the Hamas network in Jenin.”

He added: "After the surveillance, Border Guard undercover agents, under the direction of the Shin Bet, eliminated Wissam Hazem, the leader of the Hamas network in Jenin."

The Israeli army claimed that "Hazem was involved in carrying out and directing shooting operations and detonating explosive devices, in addition to other attacks in the West Bank."

He said: “A short time later, an air force plane eliminated two other gunmen who tried to escape from the car they were riding in with Hazem.”

He added: "The two militants, Maysara Masharqa and Arafat Amer, are Hamas activists in Jenin. They worked under the command of Wissam Hazem and were involved in shooting operations towards Israeli towns in the seam zone."

He said, "Inside the gunmen's car, their bodies were found, as well as M16 rifles, a pistol, ammunition clips, explosive devices, gas bombs, and tens of thousands of shekels (Israeli currency)."

Targeting medical staff and journalists

In light of the ongoing military operation, the occupation forces opened fire on an ambulance crew in Jenin, where “two ambulance officers, Murad Khamayseh and Taher Sanouri, were injured by live bullet shrapnel in the face.”

The Palestinian Red Crescent reported that “a volunteer doctor inside the car was injured by live bullets in the hand.”

Follow-up | The moment ambulance crews retrieved the body of a martyr in the eastern neighborhood of Jenin, bringing the number of martyrs in Jenin, Tubas and Tulkarm since dawn on Wednesday to 20. pic.twitter.com/AB2syDsmZw

— AlQastal News (@AlQastalps) August 30, 2024

The Palestinian Ministry of Health condemned, in a statement, “the occupation’s deliberate targeting of medical and ambulance crews in Jenin.” It said, “A doctor in the Ministry of Health and two ambulance officers from the Palestinian Red Crescent Society miraculously escaped death while performing their humanitarian duty in Jenin.”

She added, “The head of the complaints unit in the ministry, Dr. Nidal Al-Arda, was a volunteer alongside two ambulance officers from the Red Crescent Society during the occupation’s storming of the city of Jenin, where they were shot directly while they were inside the ambulance, which led to Dr. Al-Arda being shot in the hand, in addition to the two ambulance officers being injured by bullet fragments in the face.”

On the other hand, the official Palestinian news agency (WAFA) said that “journalists were shot in Jenin.” It added that “the Israeli occupation forces fired live bullets at a group of journalists while they were covering the ongoing aggression on the city of Jenin and its camp for the third consecutive day.”

Journalists posted video clips of themselves trying to explain their journalistic mission to soldiers, then being shot and dispersed.

Displacement operations

On Friday evening, Palestinian families began to flee the eastern neighborhood of Jenin, as a result of the continuation of Israeli military operations for the third consecutive day.

Displaced people from the eastern neighborhood said that they left their homes “under pressure from Israeli operations and as a result of the lack of food and water.”

This time the scenes of displacement are not from Gaza, but from Jenin camp.

Under dangerous and tragic circumstances, families began to leave Jenin camp in search of safer places.

Where is the West Bank headed? What is happening in Gaza is being gradually implemented in the West Bank, even though Hamas is not in control there and has nothing to do with the events of October 7. pic.twitter.com/B7X0F1eIEu

— Tamer | Tamer (@tamerqdh) August 30, 2024

“The Israeli army stormed our house, taking with it its equipment, food and everything it needed, and turned our house into a military post,” said Palestinian Jaber Abu Reeh, as he walked with his wife and children, carrying the youngest.

He added: “The army told us (in colloquial language) to find alternative places. It’s a long story.”

Regarding the situation in the eastern neighborhood, Abu Reeh said: “The destruction is great, the army is waging a real war, and the residents are without food, medicine, or drink.”

He pointed out that he and his family fled “on foot about an hour ago and climbed a forested mountain into the unknown.”

Earlier today, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said in a statement that its crews are facing “great difficulty in responding to the appeals of citizens besieged in the city of Jenin and its camp for the third consecutive day, due to the occupation forces obstructing the movement of ambulances and preventing their crews from reaching their destination to perform their humanitarian work.”

She added that her crews, "in addition to providing first aid to the injured and sick and transporting martyrs, are trying to respond to the appeals of citizens who need medicine, milk for children, diapers, or food supplies that have run out due to the severe siege imposed by the occupation on the region."

(Agencies)