Image Source: Anadolu Anjasi
Jenin – The situation in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin has escalated to a critical point as Israeli military aggression continues unabated for the sixth consecutive day, inflicting severe damage on civilians and infrastructure. The violence has spread beyond the city to include the Jenin Refugee Camp and surrounding villages and areas, which have also come under attack by Israeli forces.
Palestinian Journalist Osaama Nazzal reports that approximately 20 Palestinian civilians have been killed by Israeli forces, with many more injured and forced to flee their homes in search of safety. Humanitarian corridors have been blocked as Israeli forces surround and obstruct access to healthcare facilities.
The widespread destruction of Palestinian homes, buildings, streets, and essential infrastructure has led residents of Jenin to refer to the area as “Little Gaza.” The raids have also targeted vital services, leaving the city without electricity, water, and communications.
“It is not easy for anybody to go to Jenin now because of the Israeli military forces deployed in every part of the city. All the roads are not only destroyed, but they are dug into a 2-metre depth. According to reports from the city, the Israeli forces prevent the movement and mobility of the Palestinian medical teams and ambulances. They are applying the same techniques and methods of killing and murder that they use against our people in Gaza.”
Israeli Attacks on the West Bank
The recent raids and fighting in Jenin in the West Bank are not isolated incidents from the past six days. Much like the ongoing genocide in Gaza, the occupied West Bank has endured relentless Israeli attacks, ethnic cleansing, and occupation.
However, since Israel imposed a siege on the Gaza Strip last year, their aggression in the West Bank has only escalated, leading to the current peak of violence.
Since October, over 650 Palestinians have been killed in the territory, with thousands more detained by Israeli forces. This escalation in the West Bank represents a significant and alarming shift as the Israeli military employs increasingly brutal tactics to suppress and displace Palestinian communities.
Nazzal emphasised that Jenin has become a focal point of this intensified aggression, with widespread destruction of homes, infrastructure, and essential services, leaving the city in a state of crisis.
Moreover, the systematic nature of these attacks indicates a deliberate strategy to weaken and ultimately displace the Palestinian population, part of a broader effort to expand Israeli settlement and control over the West Bank—an action declared illegal by the Hague.
“The occupation regime plan targets not only Gaza, but it started with Gaza. It targets every part of the occupied Palestinian territory, and we shouldn’t forget that the Israeli occupation and the Zionist movement don’t recognise the right of the Palestinian people to exist in the occupied West Bank. They don’t call it occupied territory or the West Bank; they call it Judah and Samaria. They believe that the state of Israel should be established in the heart of the West Bank.”
“The current extremist right-wing Israeli government believes that the West Bank, in particular, should be allocated and dedicated to building more settlements and bringing more Zionist settlers to live in place of the indigenous Palestinian people.”
Israel’s lack of accountability and the absence of condemnation by the international community for their crimes in Gaza and ongoing atrocities against Palestinians in other territories have encouraged them to continue these actions with impunity.
Only when Israel is entirely held accountable and faces tangible consequences for its actions can there be hope for deterring further violations. Without international pressure and a genuine commitment to upholding human rights, the cycle of violence and suffering is likely to persist, with devastating consequences for countless Palestinian lives.
