West Bank violence in Jenin: What you need to know
July 3, 2023
Where is Jenin?
Jenin is a Palestinian city in the northern part of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The city is under administration of the Palestinian Authority, which has only limited authority in parts of the West Bank. Israel's ongoing occupation of the West Bank is widely considered a violation of international law.
The Jenin refugee camp, where the Israeli military on Monday launched an attack, killing at last eight, is a densely populated part of the city. It was established in the early 1950s to house Palestinians who fled or were expelled from their homes, mainly from what is today northern Israel, during, and in the aftermath of the Israeli-Arab war in 1948. Palestinians refer to this period as the Nakba, the catastrophe.
Israel captured and occupied the West Bank along with East Jerusalem during the Six-Day War in 1967. Palestinians want to see the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza as integral parts of a future independent Palestinian state. However, any substantial peace talks have been frozen for a decade at least.
Who are the militant groups believed to be active in the area?
Israel claims that the Jenin refugee camp is an operating ground for armed fighters from different militant groups such as the armed wing of Hamas — the Izz ad-Din Qassam Brigades — the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the Fatah-affiliated network of Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades. Armed with an array of weapons, these groups are designated as terrorist organizations by the European Union and the United States.
Several newer groups have emerged in the West Bank, such as the "Lion's Den" in Nablus or, the so-called Jenin Brigade, recently founded by a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. It is a group that reportedly brings together members from different factions rather than carrying out the agenda of any particular faction.
Smaller groups like the Lion's Den are at times only loosely affiliated with established militant groups and consist mainly of Palestinian young men who often see no other way out of Israel's military occupation, and who are disillusioned with the Palestinian political leadership.
Why has Jenin been a hotspot for some time?
Israeli offensives and daily raids in the occupied West Bank are nothing new, but they have intensified since last year, after a series of deadly attacks by Palestinians against Israelis in Israel and the West Bank.
Last year, well known Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who worked for the Arabic channel Al Jazeera, was killed by gunfire while covering an Israeli military raid near the Jenin refugee camp. In a subsequent investigation, the Israeli military stated there was a "high possibility" that an Israel Defence Forces (IDF) soldier killed Abu Akleh when firing at suspects identified as Palestinian gunmen.
Two weeks ago, a raid by the IDF in Jenin killed at least seven Palestinians, among them militants and civilians. A day later, Palestinian gunmen killed four Israelis near the Israeli settlement of Eli in the occupied West Bank. This was followed by a series of violent rampages by Israeli settlers in Palestinian towns and villages. Israel has since approved plans to build thousands of new homes in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which are illegal under international law.
According to a report by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), in the first six months of 2023, Israeli forces killed 147 Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, while 23 Israelis were killed in the same time period.
What do Israel and the Palestinians say to recent events?
The Israeli military began the most recent operation on Monday morning with an airstrike on a building which it described as a "command center" reportedly used by Palestinian militants for planning attacks. The military described its action as a "counter-terrorism" operation aimed at seizing weapons and at breaking the "safe haven of the camp" for militants operating there.
The raid came amid growing domestic pressure by members of Israel's far-right government for a tough response to the recent series of attacks.
Palestinian officials in Ramallah have sharply condemned the violence and called for international protection. For many Palestinians, this raid is reminiscent of operation "Defensive Shield" which Israel carried out in Jenin in April 2002. At that time, and after a series of Palestinian attacks in Israel during the Second Intifada ("Uprising”), Israeli forces raided the camp in what was then considered to be one of its largest military operations in the West Bank in years.
While the Israeli military said on Monday that it would make efforts to prevent harm to the local civilian population, Palestinian first responders and human rights groups have described the situation in the densely populated refugee camp as extremely difficult and dangerous.
Edited by: Maren Sass