Day: 5 July 2023

The streets of Jenin refugee camp are scarred with craters and burnt cars are scattered about after Israel brings an end to its two-day operation. Homes have been ransacked and damaged.

The BBC’s Anna Foster visited the camp, where she heard stories of Israeli armoured bulldozers reportedly ploughing through parked cars in search of improvised explosive devices.

International editor Jeremy Bowen visited the home of a refugee family, where Israeli soldiers had been in search of weapons.

Palestinian militants say that they will come back stronger following the assault on the camp.

Source: BBC

The atmosphere in Jenin refugee camp feels like one I have witnessed elsewhere – in Gaza, after wars with Israel.

But this is the occupied West Bank; where the dynamics are very different. Now it seems like a fast descent into something far more dangerous is already happening.

The destruction in the camp following the Israeli army’s biggest assault there in 20 years is massive.

As hundreds of troops entered the camp on Monday morning, the army fired missiles from drones – air strikes have not been used in the West Bank for two decades – and tore up roads to clear them of what it said were militants’ roadside bombs.

Fierce gun battles broke out between the troops and Palestinian militants and continued until Israeli troops withdrew on Tuesday night.

Now for the first time in safety since Sunday, thousands of residents pour into the streets to see the destruction themselves.

They clamber over rubble, take photos on their phones of the wreckage and compare experiences, pointing out which homes were raided, whose sons have been detained, and where the dead fell. One man walks up to me saying it reminds him of pictures from Turkey and Syria earlier this year – after the earthquake.

Cars lie crushed and tossed aside where they were hewn out of the path of Israel’s D9 armoured bulldozers. The tarmac is torn up, lying everywhere in huge chunks. We walk along what was underneath the streets: rubble, sand and dust.

Many homes have no water or power. Aid volunteers bring crates of bottled water. They join the recovery workers – some driving the few diggers available. One is removing a downed tree from the top of a residential building. It shears away part of the facade of a shop on the ground floor, falling perilously close to us.

The Israeli armoured convoys pulled out overnight amid intense gunfights with militants. Despite today’s calm, everyone fears more is coming. Israel says it will keep doing these kinds of operations “as long as necessary to uproot terrorism” while Palestinian militant groups are claiming “victory” and vowing revenge.

We continue our way through the camp and the funeral processions begin. Thousands of mourners chant as they carry stretchers holding the bodies of some of the 12 Palestinians killed since Monday. Four of them were aged under 18. Israel said it was targeting militants.

Columns of people join. As they march, some men are masked and carrying guns; others wear Islamic Jihad headbands and Hamas flags flutter over a nearby building. Anger grips the crowd as it makes its way towards the homes of the dead, where their mothers and wives await.

But the displays of firepower – in public at least – feel less intense than previous funerals.

I have been coming to Jenin repeatedly over the last year and a half, as a new generation of armed militants has formed, rejecting the ageing Palestinian leadership and shooting at the Israeli army during its growing raids into the city.

This is a generation that believes the official Palestinian Authority (PA) sold out on their future and became little more than a security company for Israel’s military occupation, which secures the expanding Israeli settlements in the West Bank, built on the land Palestinians want for a future state and illegal under international law.

Less gunfire today, but the frustration only intensifies. Overnight young Palestinian men also clashed with the formal security forces of the PA. Jenin is a city that had already slipped well out of its limited control.

Now the institutional remnants of a three-decades old peace process in the occupied West Bank are being tested to destruction.

Israel says it will continue to root out what it calls “a city of refuge for terrorism” in Jenin, but the Palestinian militant factions say they will intensify their activities. A car-ramming and stabbing attack in Tel Aviv on Tuesday that wounded seven Israelis was described by Islamic Jihad as the “first response” to what was happening in Jenin.

The growing violence is a further sign of the collapse of any political horizons. Some fear that Palestinian cities in the West Bank will see more intensive military attacks and security crackdowns – more akin to the plight of people in Gaza, which is governed by Hamas and blockaded by Israel.

More Palestinians reject their own internationally recognised leadership and back armed resistance, while Israel remains in the grip of the most extreme government it has ever known, which has vowed to extend what it calls exclusive Jewish rights to all the land.

Source: BBC

A joint Senate committee on Wednesday met with representatives of Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD), which has been working to support democracies since its establishment in 1992 in the United Kingdom. The committee, chaired by Issa Murad, said the meeting went over cooperation aspects and efforts to launch joint collaboration horizons, in addition to empowerment of Jordan’s women and youth, according to a Senate statement. Murad referred to His Majesty King Abdullah II’s vision to modernize the Kingdom’s political system, implement an economic vision, and carry out administrative reform. Murad also noted the Senate, represented by its permanent committees, is keen to implement the Royal vision to empower women and youth, by developing comprehensive programs, aimed to stimulating their participation in political life. For her part, Head of WFD Middle East and North Africa region, Airlie Taylor, said the foundation aims to support parliamentary work and development of political parties, democratic institutions and civil society institutions. She noted WFD visit to the Senate aims to increase joint cooperation and coordination over domestic issues of common concern. Talyor noted increasing participation of women and youth in Jordan’s political aspect and in the labor sector is a top WFD concern, which is keen to raise level of its activity in supporting democratic life in the Middle East. Talyor added that the Kingdom is a “stable country and enhances engagement of women and youth in various aspects of political life.”

Source: Jordan News Agency

Jordan Food and Drug Administration (JFDA) Director General, Nizar Muhaidat, highlighted the Kingdom’s “pioneering” expertise in establishing a reference regulatory body concerned with ensuring food quality and safety, as well as efficacy and reliability of drug products during an official visit to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah. During a meeting with Palestinian Minister of Health, Mai Kaila, Muhaidat stressed JFDA’s keenness to enhance joint cooperation with Palestinian Ministry of Health based on the joint health cooperation protocol concluded by Jordan and Palestine. Muhaidat also voiced JFDA’s keenness to help Palestinian side “optimally” benefit from JFDA’s experience to create a similar entity in Palestine. Muhaidat expressed JFDA’s readiness to provide all its expertise in the field of drug registration, control, and inspection to the Palestinian side. Muhaidat noted the visit comes following a trip by a delegation from Palestinian Ministry of Health to JFDA to learn about Jordan’s experience, discuss cooperation mechanisms, and review JFDA’s procedures in place. JFDA, since its inception as a national reference body specialized in food and drug control, participates in preparing the necessary legislation for food and drug monitoring bodies and institutions in several Arab countries and provides expertise and training, Muhaidat said.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The Cabinet, in its session held Wednesday, headed by Prime Minister Dr. Bishr Khasawneh, approved the mandating reasons for the draft bylaw for accreditation of non-Jordanian higher education institutions and their certificates’ equivalency for 2023. Under the amendments, the system aims to cope pace with current developments and comes pursuant to provisions of Paragraph (E) of Article (4) of Higher Education and Scientific Research Law and its amendments No. (17) of 2018. This law provided legislative clauses to set Ministry of Higher Education’s role to accredit non-Jordanian educational institutions and complete equivalency of their certificates, in accordance with a regulation issued for this purpose. The Council of Ministers also approved the validating reasons for the draft administrative organization bylaw for Ministry of Youth for 2023, aimed to launching new administrative units, adjusting levels of the current active structures and altering their connections according to the actual work situation, which would guarantee proper workflow. On the other hand, the Cabinet approved formation of an organizing committee headed by Minister of Government Communication, Faisal Shubul, to arrange hosting of UNESCO International Conference in Jordan on the occasion of Global Media and Information Literacy Week 2023, and mandate the committee to form action teams and subcommittees for organizing and coordinating the conference’s content, events, and programs.

Source: Jordan News Agency

News about the second day of the Israeli army assault on Jenin and its refugee camp was highlighted on the front page of the three Palestinian Arabic dailies published today. The three dailies, al-Quds, al-Ayyam, and al-Hayat al-Jadida, said 12 Palestinians were killed in the assault, four of them on the second day, along with hundreds of wounded and detained, before Israel pulled out its forces from the Palestinian city. The dailies printed pictures from Jenin showing some of those killed in the assault and the destruction and damage caused to the camp. They also said an Israeli soldier was killed in the assault and another was wounded. The papers also published reactions to the assault and some said that the assault did not achieve its goals, as reported in the Israeli media. Al-Quds said a Palestinian was killed in Tel Aviv following an attack that left nine Israelis injured, five of them critically. It also said that several Palestinians were injured by live bullets fired at them by Israeli soldiers in confrontations in the West Bank held in protest against the Israeli assault on Jenin. Al-Ayyam said several international agencies have expressed concern about the scope of the Israeli assault on Jenin and its impact. It said a general strike was observed in the West Bank in solidarity with Jenin. The paper said dozens were injured, including a photojournalist, when Israeli soldiers stationed on the border between Gaza and Israel in the south of the Gaza Strip fired tear gas and rubber bullets at Palestinians who gathered at the border to protest the Israeli assault on Jenin. Al-Hayat al-Jadida quoted a Palestinian security source denying Israeli reports regarding the continuation of security coordination. It said President Mahmoud Abbas gave instructions to provide Jenin with all its needs.

Source: En – Palestine news & Information Agency – WAFA

The Israeli occupation forces detained at least 11 Palestinians in the occupied territories, including a father and his son, according to various sources. The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society said the occupation forces detained three Palestinians during a raid in the town of Biddo, northwest of Jerusalem, including a father and his son. It also said two people were detained in Nablus, one of them a student at An-Najah University and a member of its student council. Soldiers also raided homes in Bethlehem and detained two men, 28 and 24 years of age, after searching their homes. One person was also detained in occupied East Jerusalem. Sources said Israeli soldiers manning a checkpoint near an illegal settlement in the Hebron district detained three men while attempting to cross the checkpoint.

Source: En – Palestine news & Information Agency – WAFA

Israeli settlers last night set fire to dozens of dunums of agricultural land in the village of Beit Dajan, east of the northern West Bank city of Nablus, according to local sources. They told WAFA that settlers, protected by soldiers, broke into an area east of the village and set fire to dozens of dunums of land planted with olive trees and to several straw bales. Village residents confronted the settlers but were stopped by the soldiers who opened live fire and shot tear gas canisters at the residents.

Source: En – Palestine news & Information Agency – WAFA

Work started this morning to repair the severe damage and destruction the Israeli military caused to homes, properties, and infrastructure in Jenin refugee camp following two days of incursion into the northern West Bank city of Jenin. Crews from the Jenin Municipality, the Joint Services Council, and private companies started work to remove the rubbles left from the Israeli aggression on the infrastructure and properties in the city of Jenin and its camp. Minister of Local Government Majdi al-Saleh said in a brief statement that the crews are making every possible effort, since the early hours after the withdrawal of the occupation forces from Jenin camp, to ensure the re-delivery and provision of basic services to citizens, including water, electricity and communications as soon as possible. The work also includes clearing the rubble, rehabilitating roads, mainly the main road in the camp that was bulldozed on the first day of the incursion, and repairing the water, electricity and communications networks that were damaged in order to allow the people to return as soon as possible to the homes the army had forced them to leave in addition to providing relief assistance to those who chose to stay in the camp. The Israeli occupation forces launched early Monday a massive aggression against the city of Jenin and its camp, which lasted for two days and resulted in the killing of 12 civilians, including five children, and more than 140 injured, including 30 seriously, in addition to destroying the camp’s infrastructure and causing severe damage to homes and properties. Minister of Public Works, Mohammad Ziara, described the refugee camp after arriving there as if it was hit by an earthquake, pointing out that there was total destruction to all aspects of normal life, including infrastructure and living.

Source: En – Palestine news & Information Agency – WAFA