Israeli forces besieged a Palestinian government hospital in Jenin and a nearby refugee camp in the heart of the city on Wednesday, as the Israeli defence minister, Israel Katz, said the assault marked “a shift in . . . security strategy” in the occupied West Bank.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said they had carried out air strikes in Jenin as well as detonating roadside explosive devices. At least four Palestinians were wounded on Tuesday, after 10 were killed a day earlier, Palestinian health services said.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said its ambulances had been prevented from reaching many of the dead and wounded who lay in the streets of neighbourhoods around the Jenin refugee camp.
“No one can break the siege on the refugee camp and the surrounding area,” said Nebal Farsakh, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent. Their medics had treated seven fatalities and 17 wounded people, all injured with live ammunition, she added.
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The escalating Israeli raid on Jenin continued despite the recent ceasefire in Gaza, pausing an Israeli assault on the territory that had continued for 15 months after the October 7th Hamas attacks on Israeli towns and kibbutzim around Gaza.
With the ceasefire in Gaza coming into effect less than a week ago, Israeli forces indicated the start of a renewed military operation across the West Bank.
Wissam Bakr, the head of Khalil Suleiman governmental hospital in Jenin, said: “The current situation is awful. Israeli forces destroyed the roads in front of the hospital. They put the rubble from the destroyed streets in front of hospital exits to prevent ambulances from entering or leaving.”
He estimated that 600 medical staff and patients were sheltering inside the hospital. He said supplies of food and water in the hospital would only last a few days.
Two nurses and three doctors were shot on the main road leading to the hospital on Tuesday, he added.
The escalation in Jenin came as Israeli forces choked off entrances and exits to Palestinian cities across the West Bank using checkpoints. In the early hours of Wednesday, Israeli soldiers also launched a raid on the Aida refugee camp located north of Bethlehem and in Tulkarm. The Palestinian news agency Wafa said at least 29 people were arrested across the West Bank on Wednesday morning, most of them young men.
A committee within the Palestinian Liberation Organisation tracking Israeli activity in the territory reported that the IDF had increased the number of military checkpoints and iron gates, reaching almost 900. The IDF did not comment on the precise number of new checkpoints.
Its international spokesperson, Lt Col Nadav Shoshani, told a press briefing on Wednesday: “Our method of combating terror, ensuring that terrorists cannot escape while still allowing civilians to move freely, relies heavily on checkpoints.”
Aseel Baidoun from Medical Aid for Palestinians, speaking from Ramallah, said: “For two days we have been experiencing an extensive military lockdown. The Israeli army has placed hundreds of new checkpoints that are making the movement between towns and cities almost impossible.” – Guardian
