[News] Action Alert: Israel’s Massive Military Attack on the Northern West Bank

Wed Aug 28 12:55:21 EDT 2024

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*Action Alert: Israel’s Massive Military Attack on the Northern West Bank*

In the early hours of 28 August 2024, the Israeli Occupying Forces (IOF) 
launched 
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a vicious, major, military attack on the northern governorates of the 
occupied West Bank, mainly Jenin, Tulkarem, and Tubas, and the refugee 
camps therein, that is still ongoing and intensifying. This attack, 
which reportedly 
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“had been planned for weeks”, involves the extensive deployment of 
military force, including hundreds of Israeli occupying soldiers and 
snipers, the air force, and an array of military vehicles, including 
bulldozers, in what is being described 
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as the “biggest operation in the occupied West Bank since 2002 [the 
Second /Intifada/]”. As of the time of publishing, in a span of mere 
hours, at least nine Palestinians have been killed 
<https://alhaq.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=10071401ba4201bc1a4992f68&id=b2b1bb922f&e=08c14cf485>, 
according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, due to injuries 
sustained by live ammunition and airstrikes.

Al-Haq’s initial monitoring reveals that, in both Jenin and Tulkarem, 
particularly in Jenin and Nur Shams refugee camps, the Israeli military 
attack involves closing off the cities’ entrances, the widespread 
destruction of infrastructure through the use of military bulldozers. 
Moreover, during the ongoing attack, a large number of Israeli soldiers 
carried out raids and searches of several homes in various areas, 
including the Jenin Refugee Camp, with Israeli snipers stationed on top 
of several buildings. Overall, movement in Jenin and its refugee camp 
has come to a complete halt, with intense surveillance aircraft hovering 
overhead. Furthermore, large numbers of Israeli soldiers have been 
reported in the area of the evacuated settlements east of Jenin, which 
appear to be used by the IOF as a military base.

At around 4:00 am on 28 August, initial reports indicated 
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that an Israeli drone targeted a vehicle travelling between the villages 
of Sir and Misliya, south of Jenin, killing at least three Palestinians. 
However, some sources report the killing of four. Similarly, during the 
attack on the Nur Shams camp, an Israeli drone targeted and struck a 
group of Palestinians, causing injuries, with no confirmed reports of 
killings in the Tulkarem governorate thus far.

Moreover, several military jeeps and vehicles have been deployed in the 
vicinity of Jenin and Ibn Sina hospitals in Jenin, as well as Al-Israa 
and Thabet Thabet hospitals in Tulkarem. The IOF are stopping ambulances 
and checking for the identities of paramedics, the injured and their 
companions. This tactic, previously employed 
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during other military attacks over the past months, involves closing off 
many roads leading to hospitals, stopping ambulances, checking the 
identities of transported injured, killed, or sick Palestinians, and 
impeding the work and access of ambulance teams. At approximately 9:20 
am, Dr. Wisam Baker, the Director of Jenin Governmental Hospital, 
officially announced that he received a notification from the 
Palestinian Liaison Office about the IOF’s intention to storm Jenin 
Governmental Hospital, which is currently besieged. Our organisations 
warn of the dangerous consequences should the IOF proceed with the 
threatened attack on Jenin Governmental Hospital—the only governmental 
hospital and largest hospital in the entire Jenin Governorate, with 
around 220 beds, and the closest facility to Jenin Refugee Camp, which 
operates consistently at full capacity, serving a high volume of 
patients and visitors.

Crucially, since the start of the ongoing genocide in Gaza, Israel has 
simultaneously escalated 
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its oppression of Palestinians elsewhere in historic Palestine, 
including the systematic use of excessive and lethal force, including 
airstrikes, in the occupied West Bank, including in eastern Jerusalem, 
and particularly in refugee camps in the northern West Bank. *This has, 
as of 27 August 2024, culminated in the killing of at least 638 
Palestinians, by the IOF and Israeli settlers in the West Bank, 
according to Al-Haq’s documentation. Of those, around a quarter (160 
Palestinians) were killed in Jenin Governorate, whereas 144 Palestinians 
were killed in Tulkarem Governorate, 71 in Nablus Governorate, and 41 in 
Tubas Governorate. *

Alarmingly, the Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister, Israel Katz, declared 
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Israel’s intention to use “the same determination” with refugee camps in 
northern West Bank just as with Gaza, “including the temporary 
evacuation of Palestinian residents and any necessary measures.” *Our 
organisations warn of even more escalated violence in the West Bank, 
with the employment of tactics that mirror those used in Israel’s 
genocidal campaign in Gaza, particularly attacks on hospitals and health 
care facilities, and the use of excessive and indiscriminate force. *

Israel’s military attack on northern West Bank governorates should be 
regarded in light of Israeli intentions to permanently remove 
Palestinians and (re)establish Israeli colonial settlements instead. In 
March 2023, the Israeli Knesset passed 
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an amendment to the disengagement law to allow Israeli settlers to 
return to West Bank settlements vacated during the 2005 Disengagement 
plan, which are located near the cities of Jenin and Nablus. This 
allowed for the resettlement of Homesh following its legalisation 
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by the Israeli government. Furthermore, in May 2024, the Israeli Defense 
Minister approved 
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the return of Israeli settlers to three formerly evacuated West Bank 
settlements: Sanur, Ganim and Kadim.

Israel’s ongoing military attack on northern cities and refugee camps of 
the West Bank is yet another manifestation of its colonial violence 
against, and dehumanisation of, the Palestinian people and denial of 
their rights to self-determination and return. *We call on the 
international community to immediately intervene and implement 
countermeasures against Israel as required by international law to 
pressure it to stop its genocidal and colonial violence against 
Palestinians in occupied Gaza and the West Bank, particularly to impose 
a mandatory and comprehensive **two-way military embargo* 
<https://alhaq.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=10071401ba4201bc1a4992f68&id=7f2d56b94a&e=08c14cf485>*against 
Israel.* Failure to stop Israel’s systematic violations of international 
law by the international community, Third States, and the United Nations 
is emboldening Israel to escalate its violence and cement its 
settler-colonial project aimed at obliterating the existence of 
Palestinians in historic Palestine.

We demand concrete action now.

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