Palestinian Authority calls on international community to ‘take serious action’ to compel Israel to stop its aggression against the Palestinians.
RAMALLAH — The Palestinian Authority (PA) on Monday called the ongoing Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin as a “new war crime” against the Palestinians.
Palestinian leaders have called Israel’s largest military operation in Jenin in 20 years a “new war crime” after at least eight Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded.
Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday called on the international community to “break its shameful silence and take serious action”.
“The Palestinian people will not surrender or raise the white flag, but will remain steadfast on their land in the face of this brutal aggression until the occupation is defeated and freedom is achieved,” he added.
“What the Israeli occupation government is doing in the city of Jenin and its camp is a new war crime against our defenseless people,” PA spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said in a statement.
Abu Rudeineh said crimes committed by the Israeli settlers “will not achieve security and stability for them unless our Palestinian people also feel them.”
He also called on the international community “to break its shameful silence and take serious action to compel Israel to stop its aggression against our Palestinian people, and to hold it accountable for all these crimes.”
Barbaric Agression
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry termed the Jenin operation as a “barbaric aggression”, saying it was part of Israel’s official policy “of using military force in dealing with the defenseless Palestinian people as an alternative to political solutions to the conflict.”
The ministry called for urgent international action to “immediately stop the aggression,” and urged the International Criminal Court “to break its silence and start holding the Israel war criminals accountable”, Anadolu Agency reported.
Palestinian health authorities said one of the dead was a 16-year-old while 50 others were wounded and 10 were in a critical condition.
“We Are All Jenin“
Meanwhile, Palestinian factions organised a rally in the centre of Gaza City to express solidarity with the people of Jenin.
As reported by Aljazeera, dozens of participants chanted slogans and held banners reading, “We are all Jenin” and “We’re with the resistance.”
The Joint Operations Room of the Palestinian Resistance Factions, an umbrella group comprising political parties in the besieged Gaza Strip, said in a statement: “We call on all our people in cities, villages and camps, especially around Jenin, to confront the Israeli occupation and support Jenin.
“We call on the resistance fighters in all arenas to respond to any aggression if the Israeli occupation continues its crimes against our people.”
Khaled al-Batsh, a senior leader in Islamic Jihad said “the people of Gaza will not abandon Jenin”.
“The Israeli occupation’s attempts to take the battle to the streets of Jenin and the West Bank would be in vain.” he said.
Increased Attacks Over The Past Two Years
The Jenin refugee camp has been the target of intensifying and recurring attacks by Israeli forces over the past two years.
Along with Nablus, also in the northern occupied West Bank, it has witnessed the emergence of a new generation of Palestinian fighters resisting Israel’s decades-long military occupation.
Israel’s attacks on Jenin are part of a so-called effort to crush resistance there, with young Palestinians increasingly taking up arms, arguing that they see no other way to fight the occupation as they grow increasingly disillusioned with what they see as the waning effectiveness of the PA, which retains largely administrative control over about 18 percent of the occupied West Bank.
Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said the military operation was focused on the Jenin refugee camp and was “part of a series of actions that we carry out and will continue to carry out.”
According to Israeli military sources, more than 1,000 troops were involved in the Jenin operation.
Israel’s operation, which was continuing more than 18 hours after its launch, hit the city in the occupied West Bank with air attacks as well as ground raids. Media reports said more than 1,000 soldiers were involved in the operation, which Israel said was directed against “terrorist infrastructure”.
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Nine Palestinians were killed by Israeli army fire in the West Bank on Monday, including seven in Jenin, according to the Health Ministry. Twenty-seven Palestinians were also injured, Anadolu Agency reported.
Tensions have been running high across the occupied West Bank in recent months amid repeated Israeli raids into Palestinian towns.
Nearly 190 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since the start of this year, according to the Health Ministry. At least 25 Israelis have also been killed in separate attacks during the same period.
The Palestinian ambassador to the Arab League called for an urgent meeting on Tuesday, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.
The meeting will “discuss ways of effective action at the Arab and international levels to stop this Israeli aggression, hold its perpetrators accountable and request protection,” it said. — Media Hit
