According to the Palestinian Health Ministry in Ramallah, at least 78 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli military raids in Jenin since Oct. 7, making it the deadliest period in the city in recent years. Across the West Bank, at least 286 Palestinians have been killed since Oct. 7, most during Israeli raids but others in clashes with extremist Israeli settlers.
Residents, camp committee members, Israeli military statements, and Palestinian media reports have confirmed that the Israeli military has launched dozens of raids in Jenin over the last two months, most aimed at the refugee camp. The camp, a built-up, impoverished neighborhood housing Palestinian refugees who were forcibly displaced during the wars surrounding Israel’s creation in 1948, has seen much of its infrastructure destroyed by the raids, which usually occur overnight and involve bulldozers.
Mohammad Sabaghi, the head of the committee that runs the camp, described the situation as “collective punishment,” stating that nearly everything in the area has been damaged or destroyed, including water, electricity, phone lines, and the sewage system.
The Palestinian Authority’s health minister, Mai Al-Kaila, released a statement on Thursday describing the difficult situation in Jenin’s hospitals due to the escalating aggression over the past three days. The statement accused Israeli forces of obstructing arrivals of wounded people, searching and detaining medical workers, and attacking ambulances. The Israeli military did not respond to requests for comment on these accusations.
Doctors Without Borders reported that a father in Jenin had to carry his 13-year-old son on foot to a hospital on Wednesday because Israeli armored cars had blocked ambulances, and the boy was pronounced dead on arrival. Wisam Baker, the director of the Jenin Hospital, stated in an interview that Israeli forces had set up checkpoints outside the hospital during some raids, making it difficult for medical teams to deliver care to those injured in the incursions, and also making it dangerous for patients to enter the hospital.
Christina Goldbaum contributed reporting.