Last week, Israel carried out its largest demolition operation in the
West Bank since 1967, destroying twenty buildings in the Jenin Refugee
Camp within seconds. This assault is part of a broader escalation that
has unfolded over the past two weeks. Under the operation dubbed
“Operation Iron Wall,” Israeli forces have increased military actions in
Jenin, Tulkarem, Tubas, and Tammoun. These measures involve mass
arrests, ground raids, and demolitions, aiming to dismantle social
infrastructure and disrupt daily life in a manner reminiscent of
previous assaults on Gaza.
God of Compassion, for nearly
80 years, our people have endured dispossession and loss. From Gaza to
the West Bank, the weight of oppression continues to bear down on our
hearts. We grieve the pain of those who have lived through generations
of injustice and especially for the people of Jenin, Tulkarem, Tubas,
and Tammoun who live with no moment of peace. Amidst our fear and
uncertainty, we ask you to make your presence and love known to those
suffering. Grant peace to the afflicted, comfort to the grieving, and
strength to the oppressed. Embolden the world to put an end to this
cycle of violence and injustice.
Some
30,000 residents from Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank have
fled their homes after large swathes of it were destroyed in a series
of controlled detonations by the Israeli security forces (ISF), the UN
agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) said on Tuesday.
UNRWA’s
communications director Juliette Touma described catastrophic scenes at
the camp, where some 100 buildings had been “destroyed or heavily
damaged” by the detonations at the weekend.
The camp’s residents
had “endured the impossible”, she said, after nearly two months of
“unceasing and escalating violence” linked to the Israeli military
operation.
“The detonation on Sunday was when children were supposed to go back to school,”
Ms. Touma explained, adding that the 13 UNRWA schools in the camp and
its surrounding areas remain closed, depriving 5,000 children of
education.
Israeli ban
UNRWA faces unprecedented challenges to continue
carrying out its work following the Israeli parliament’s adoption in
October last year of two laws banning its operations in Israeli
territory and prohibiting Israeli authorities from having any contact
with the agency. The Knesset laws entered into force last Thursday.
Still,
Ms. Touma said that to this day, the Government of Israel has “not
communicated to UNRWA how they intend to implement” the laws.
The agency’s teams are “staying and delivering” in the remaining parts of the West Bank, Ms. Touma said, with basic services, including primary healthcare and education ongoing.
“Schools and clinics remain open, including in occupied East Jerusalem, providing services to refugees,” the UNRWA spokesperson said. “We are seeing attendance at UNRWA schools at over 80 to 85 per cent.”
Ms.
Touma also reported a “steady increase” in the number of patients
visiting the UNRWA health centres in the West Bank, with one clinic in
East Jerusalem recording more than 400 patients a day.
Turning to the Gaza Strip, where humanitarian needs are sky-high, Ms. Touma said that the “biggest
priority” for UNRWA teams there is distributing supplies from 4,200 aid
trucks that have entered the enclave since the start of the ceasefire on 19 January.
This
is the target number that was set as part of the initial phase of the
ceasefire and represents a welcome boost for the people of Gaza whose
needs remain enormous – particularly among the hundreds of thousands of
people who have returned to the shattered north.
More trucks are expected to arrive later this week, Ms. Touma said, adding that “hundreds of trucks” are waiting to enter Gaza from Egypt and Jordan. ... READ MOREhttps://news.un.org/en/story/2025/02/1159741
[AS
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READ GOOD ARTICLES (or quotes or watch videos) IN FULL: HELP
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Palestine]
The Israeli army’s latestinvasion and bombardment of Jenin refugee camp was accompanied by typical hasbara — Israeli propaganda — seeking to justify the illegal occupation as a necessary response to terrorism. It has also sparked another round of bad-faith arguments about the Jenin camp’s very existence, with a spike in social media rhetoric asking why there are refugee camps in the occupied West Bank.
While Palestinian refugees have long been the target of such misinformation campaigns, these hasbara efforts have escalated in recent years with the rise of the extremist right in Israel and an anti-Palestinian drive from Republicans in the United States.
The undermining of Palestinians’ refugee status and rights goes hand-in-hand with the denial of the Nakba
(“catastrophe”), the uprooting and expulsion of around three-quarters
of the Palestinian population in 1948, at the hands of Zionist militias
and the new Israeli state. Denying the Nakba makes it possible to depict
Israel’s establishment as liberatory and benign, while propagating
myths about Palestinian refugees enables Israeli settler colonialism to continue today....
Palestinians from Tantura are expelled to Jordan, June 1948. (Benno
Rothenberg/Meitar Collection/National Library of Israel/The Pritzker
Family National Photography Collection/CC BY 4.0)
The painting on the wall (shown before the attack) reads "the past will also be present in the future"
It includes the image of our murdered Artistic Director Juliano Mer Khamis & Indian Director Safdar who was also murdered.
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%20reads%20%20the%20past%20will%20also%20be%20present%20in%20the%20future%20.jpg)
