An airstrike targeting the Jenin camp in the northern West Bank on Tuesday/Wednesday night killed six Palestinians, including three brothers and a child, in a fresh round of Israeli attacks on the West Bank.
As per a statement released by the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the victims were taken to different hospitals in Jenin. Two of them were taken to Ibn Sina Hospital, and four of them were taken to the Jenin Governmental Hospital.
According to the statement, the victims include Mahmoud Ashraf Mustafa Gharbia, 15, the brothers Moamen Ibrahim Mahmoud Abu Al-Haija, 28, Amir Ibrahim Mahmoud Abu Al-Haija, 27, and Baha Ibrahim Mahmoud Abu Al-Haija, 33, as well as Hussam Hassan Issa Qanouh, 34, and Ibrahim Mustafa Qaniri, 23.
The attack occurred during a security campaign that the Palestinian Authority launched to hunt down anti-occupation youth, whom it refers to as “outlaws,” in the Jenin camp since December 14. During this campaign, the Palestinian Authority killed several civilians, set fire to the camp, imposed a strict siege on it, and opened fire on the main electrical transformers, causing them to burn and the camp’s electricity sources to be destroyed.
The killing of the six Palestinians in the Jenin camp is a part of a wave of Israeli military aggression against the West Bank, including Jerusalem. Since the beginning of October 2023, 852 Palestinian citizens have been killed in the West Bank, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, demonstrating the ongoing grave human rights abuses in the occupied Palestinian territories.
A blatant violation of international humanitarian law, which forbids targeting civilians and demolishing homes and public facilities during armed conflicts, these incidents demonstrate the worsening humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territories, where Palestinian civilians are subjected to aerial bombardment, arrests, and the continual threat of death in densely populated areas.
This ongoing attack serves as a reminder of the pressure on the international community to demand an investigation into Israeli violations of international law and human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories. It also calls into question how states and humanitarian groups can prevent the escalation and punish those behind these military assaults on civilians and essential infrastructure in the Palestinian territories.
