By Awad Rajoob and Mohammad Sio
RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) - The Israeli army barred displaced Palestinians from returning to their homes in the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank on Tuesday and threatened to kill a Palestinian journalist during her coverage of events.
The army continued its assault on the city of Jenin and its camp for the 35th day, the city of Tulkarem and its camp for the 29th day, and its incursions into the Nour Shams camp for a 16th day as part of a larger offensive in the northern West Bank.
An Anadolu cameraman captured scenes of Palestinian families attempting to return to Jenin surrounded by a heavy Israeli military presence, including tanks stationed in the area.
On Sunday evening, Israeli tanks entered the Jenin refugee camp in a military escalation not seen since 2002.
Abir Gazawi, a Palestinian woman displaced from the camp for 35 days, told Anadolu that she tried to return to her home in the camp to collect some belongings ahead of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan which begins in early March, but the Israeli army prevented her from doing so.
“I tried to enter the camp today with 10 of my friends to gather some belongings and personal papers before Ramadan, but we were surprised by a huge presence of the occupation forces,” she said.
Gazawi added that the army detained her and her friends for an hour and a half before preventing them from entering, noting the extensive destruction in the camp.
She also noted the dangerous attempts by some Palestinians to return amid the heavy presence of Israeli forces.
She shared that for the second year in a row, she would not be observing Ramadan in the usual manner due to the Israeli aggression.
“My children were martyred a month before last year's Ramadan, and this year, Ramadan will be without children and without homes,” she said.
- Journalist threatened
In a related incident, Israeli forces detained Palestinian journalist Nour Al-Fares on the outskirts of the Jenin camp and threatened to shoot her if she continued reporting on the ground.
“This is the second time I’ve been detained. Yesterday, they confiscated my phone and deleted its contents. Today, they only searched it, but one of the soldiers told me, ‘This is the second time I’ve caught you, and if I see you again, I’ll shoot you and break your phone,’” Al-Fares told Anadolu.
According to reports from the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), large sections of the Jenin camp have been destroyed and thousands of residents have been displaced due to the ongoing military operations.
Since Jan. 21, the Israeli military has expanded its operations in northern West Bank cities and camps as part of its “Iron Wall” operation, targeting Jenin, Tulkarem and Tubas. The operations have resulted in 61 deaths, the displacement of tens of thousands and widespread destruction.
Palestinian authorities warn that this aggression is part of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to annex the West Bank and assert sovereignty over it, potentially marking the official end of the two-state solution.
Tensions have been running high across the occupied West Bank, where at least 924 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 7,000 others injured in attacks by the Israeli army and illegal settlers since the start of the onslaught in the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, 2023, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.