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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">‘Little Gaza’ in Jenin refugee camp: the resistance fights for survival</h1>
<span class="gmail-post-author"><span class="gmail-by">By</span> <a href="https://mondoweiss.net/author/shatha-hanaysha/" title="Posts by Shatha Hanaysha" class="gmail-author gmail-url gmail-fn" rel="author">Shatha Hanaysha</a></span>
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<a href="https://mondoweiss.net/2023/12/little-gaza-in-jenin-refugee-camp-the-resistance-fights-for-survival/" class="gmail-date-link">December 20, 2023</a>
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<p>As soon as the sun begins to fade in Jenin refugee camp, Zuhour
al-Sa’di clutches her three children along with their bags and
schoolbooks, leaving the camp. Her situation mirrors that of many
residents escaping the recurring nightly invasions carried out by the
Israeli military on Jenin.</p>
<p>Lately, no night passes peacefully in the city and its refugee camp.
Incursions by Israeli special forces in the northern West Bank city <a href="https://mondoweiss.net/2023/11/israel-intensifies-crackdown-on-armed-resistance-in-jenin-following-october-7/">have increased significantly</a>
since October 7, resulting in prolonged invasions that sometimes last
for days. During these operations, homes in the camp are destroyed,
along with the streets and civilian infrastructure, as well as the roads
leading to the camp. Additionally, there are disruptions to electrical
power, water lines, and the sewage system, leading to the flooding of
camp streets with wastewater.</p>
<p>Every time the residents of the camp attempt to process what is
happening around them and repair some of the havoc caused by the
invasions, Israeli forces return and tear up the same streets yet again.
These repeated acts of wanton destruction are a form of collective
punishment that the army imposes on the camp and its inhabitants. Zuhour
says that leaving her house in the camp is driven by fear for her
children, as Israeli soldiers’ indiscriminate firing during the raids
puts them in real danger even when they are indoors. At the same time,
the destruction of the streets makes it difficult for her children to
reach school the next day once the raid ends. </p>
<p>After school, Zuhour and her children return home with unease, ready
to leave at any moment upon hearing the camp’s residents sounding the
alarm, alerting the area of an impending army raid.</p>
<h2><strong>War against Jenin since October 7</strong></h2>
<p>Israel has taken advantage of the fighting in Gaza to launch an
all-out war on the armed resistance in the West Bank, which it has been
unable to root out during the past two years of limited
counterinsurgency operations in Nablus, Jenin, Tulkarem, and Jericho.
The bulk of the Israeli military operations are now taking place in the
Jenin refugee camp. These operations typically extend for long hours and
sometimes last for days. In each instance, the singular objective is
clear: to “eliminate” the resistance that has taken root in the camp,
specifically the <a href="https://mondoweiss.net/2022/11/inside-the-wasps-nest-the-rise-of-the-jenin-brigade/">Jenin Brigade</a>,
an umbrella formation of several armed resistance groups. All these
incursions are accompanied by military bulldozers that destroy
infrastructure, homes, and streets. </p>
<p>However, the nature of the raids on Jenin has changed, and they are
now often accompanied by airstrikes through reconnaissance aircraft
(referred to by camp residents as suicide drones) targeting youth
gatherings. Since October 7, 21 Palestinians have been killed in Jenin
refugee camp from airstrikes and army incursions. In total, 35
Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed in this time from Israeli
airstrikes.</p>
<p>It is worth noting that the first use of Apache helicopters and
reconnaissance aircraft for airstrikes in the West Bank since the Battle
of Jenin in 2002 was also in the Jenin refugee camp, <a href="https://mondoweiss.net/2023/06/west-bank-dispatch-israeli-campaign-to-quell-jenin-resistance-reaches-new-heights/">in June 2023</a>. This was followed by another airstrike during the military operation carried out by the Israeli army on the camp in <a href="https://mondoweiss.net/2023/07/west-bank-dispatch-the-aftermath-of-the-jenin-invasion/">July of the same year</a>. </p>
<p>The raids have been ongoing since October, but the military
incursions stepped up the pace during the past month. On November 29,
Israeli forces assassinated two prominent founders of the Jenin Brigade,
Muhammad Zubeidi and Wissam Hanoun. Things have only escalated from
that point onwards.</p>
<p>The initial response to the assassinations of Zubeidi and Hanoun came
through a drive-by shooting operation on the Dotan checkpoint west of
the city of Jenin on December 8, resulting in the injury of an Israeli
soldier, as announced by the Israeli army. The operation was later
claimed by the Jenin Brigade, which declared that more than one soldier
was injured. This was considered a significant blow to Israel in the
West Bank, especially as the operation took place outside the camp and
targeted a military checkpoint during a period in which Israeli forces
were on heightened security alert.</p>
<p>On the morning of December 5, while in Jenin refugee camp working on a
report following the conclusion of a nighttime raid the day before, I
roamed through the heart of the camp with other journalists to document
the latest destruction. Suddenly, alarm sirens sounded — the means by
which “the watchers” of the resistance and residents of the camp alert
residents of the presence of Israeli special forces in civilian cars and
an impending army incursion.</p>
<p>The resistance in the camp had discovered undercover forces entering
under the guise of a commercial vehicle. These incursions are often
conducted for the purpose of arrest or assassination, and early
detection of the incursion meant that the target was likely notified
ahead of time and shifted locations. In other words, this particular
raid was a failure, as it did not result in the capture or killing of
any member of the resistance.</p>
<p>The raid lasted over 11 hours, during which the army arrested dozens
of civilians and relatives of martyrs, some of whom were released later
on the same day. Armed clashes broke out between the resistance and the
army inside the camp and on its outskirts. The resistance attempted to
repel the invasion by launching locally-made hand grenades on the
Israeli military vehicles deployed in the camp and in Jenin City. These
clashes were described as the most intense battle since the army had
declared that it had eliminated Zubeidi and Hanoun. </p>
<p>The most recent raid on the camp took place on December 12 and lasted
for three days, resulting in the killing of 13 Palestinians and the
injury of 33 others in both the city of Jenin and the camp. During this
time, Israeli forces besieged the camp, restricting entry and exit, and
conducted house-to-house raids, arresting hundreds in a scene <a href="https://mondoweiss.net/2023/12/operation-al-aqsa-flood-day-63-israeli-army-rounds-up-strips-and-blindfolds-civilian-men-in-gaza-takes-them-to-unknown-location/">reminiscent of the civilian arrests in Gaza</a>.</p>
<img width="440" height="293" src="https://mondoweiss.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/141223_Jenin_MN_0016-1024x683.jpg" alt="Palestinians walk through Jenin refugee camp in the aftermath of the Israeli three-day raid on the camp, December 14, 2023. (Photo: Mohammed Nasser/APA Images)" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" style="margin-right: 25px;">Palestinians
walk through Jenin refugee camp in the aftermath of the Israeli
three-day raid on the camp, December 14, 2023. (Photo: Mohammed
Nasser/APA Images)
<p>This assault was the Israeli army’s largest military operation in the camp since the 2002 “<a href="https://mondoweiss.net/2022/04/remembering-jenin-20-years-after-in-the-shadow-of-ukraine/">Battle of Jenin</a>.”
The Israeli army views it as an extension of the war on Gaza and the
effort to eliminate Hamas and Palestinian resistance factions. The
three-day operation witnessed intense clashes in several areas within
and around the camp and the city. It resulted in the injury of 7 Israeli
soldiers, as announced by the Israeli forces.</p>
<p>However, the Jenin Brigade announced in <a href="https://t.me/sarayajneen/1168">a statement</a>
after the raid that its fighters managed to carry out several
operations and precision strikes on various axes and areas where Israeli
army soldiers and vehicles were positioned. </p>
<p>An anonymous source from the Jenin Brigade spoke to <em>Mondoweiss</em> about the invasion. </p>
<p>“[We] targeted an infantry force of occupation soldiers stationed in
Jenin camp square with an explosive device, which resulted in direct
injuries,” the source said. “After observing soldiers outside the
vehicles on the road between the city and the camp, the resistance
fighters managed to snipe at least two soldiers, as shown through the
media.” </p>
<p>“Another group of fighters, minutes after the sniper ambush, targeted
a unit of soldiers positioned in front of the mosque in the New Camp
area,” he continued. “The fighters also breached the tight security
barrier, and despite the presence of reconnaissance aircraft and sniper
teams, targeted occupation soldiers in the Khallet Al-Sawha neighborhood
in Jenin city.”</p>
<div>
<img width="293" height="440" src="https://mondoweiss.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_5261-683x1024.jpg" alt="Israeli army vandalized and spray-painted residents' homes in Jenin refugee camp during military raids. (Photo: Shatha Hanaysha)" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" style="margin-right: 0px;">Vandalized
and spray-painted home in Jenin refugee camp, showcasing a Star of
David and the word “Messiah” in Hebrew. (Photo: Shatha Hanaysha)</div>
<p>The Jenin Brigade source maintained that the Israeli army’s operation
on December 12 was a failure, as it did not result in the arrest of any
wanted resistance fighters from the Jenin Brigade, and most of the
arrests were of civilians who were later released. The source confirmed
that the resistance fighters remained in the camp and the city, and the
clashes persisted throughout the entire incursion.</p>
<p>The source also insisted that Israel was attempting to portray an
image of victory through vandalism, painting Zionist slogans on the
walls, tearing down pictures of martyrs, ransacking and blowing up
homes, desecrating mosques and broadcasting Jewish prayers through its
speakers, and detaining civilians without cause.</p>
<h2><strong>Resistance in decline?</strong></h2>
<p>Israeli affairs expert Anas Abu Arqoub told <em>Mondoweiss</em> that
the statements from Israeli military and political officials holding
that the resistance in Jenin has ended is belied by the reality on the
ground. He asserts that Israeli officials are aware that their own
statements are untrue, but are making them anyway to boost the morale of
the Israeli public after the the deterrence of the Israeli army was
shattered on October 7.</p>
<p>In an exclusive interview conducted by <em>Mondoweiss </em>with a
fighter from the Jenin Brigade, we asked him about the accuracy of
Israeli media claims that the equation in the camp changed after the
assassination of Zubeidi and Hanoun.</p>
<p>“The occupation’s claims are baseless,” he responded. “In 2002, we
lost Mahmoud Tawalbeh [a leader in the Islamic Jihad’s military wing,
the Al-Quds Brigades] and many other prominent leaders. However, a new
generation emerged, carrying the torch once again. In the Battle of the
Sword of Jerusalem [launched by Hamas in Gaza in 2021 in response to
Israeli settler provocations in Al-Aqsa], we lost Jameel Al-Amouri [an
early founder of the Jenin Brigade], and everyone was in pain, but the
youth continued, and they carried the banner anew. This will be a new
phase and a new beginning, and we will become stronger after the
assassination of Muhammad Zubeidi and Wissam Hanoun as well.”</p>
<p>“The repeated operations by the occupation army have two sides to
them,” the fighter continued. “On the one hand, there is fatigue and
exhaustion for the youth, but at the same time, we become closer to our
God in these incursions. The closer the occupation comes to us, the
closer we get to God. We become stronger every time we break the
barriers of fear from things we experienced before. In the past, for
example, we had a fear of [Israeli] missiles, but now we have overcome
this fear, and we deal with missiles as something normal. Then we had a
fear of [Israeli attack] drones, but now we move about and have overcome
this fear.”</p>
<p>“Every time the occupation tries a new approach against us,
initially, we feel fear, but later we get used to it,” he maintained.
“There is a saying, ‘The beatings that don’t kill us make us stronger.’
With these raids, we gain more experience and become more capable of
dealing with them. In this way, the occupation loses. They used
everything available to them to threaten the youth. In the past, they
threatened us with missiles and drones without using them, but now they
have actually used these weapons. They used Apache helicopters,
reconnaissance aircraft, and shoulder-fired missiles, and they have
nothing left to frighten us with.” </p>
<blockquote><p>“The Jenin Brigade has become an institution.”</p><cite>A leader of the Jenin Brigade.</cite></blockquote>
<p>Another resistance member, a leader in the Jenin Brigade, told <em>Mondoweiss</em>
that “the revolutionary state and mentality were initially embodied by
individuals, and then they evolved into a security institution or a
jihadist struggle system. Its focus is not on a specific person relying
on their support. Although there are individuals who have a significant
impact on the streets, the ideology and awareness present in the
community compensate for this absence. Youth now strive to become
leaders in this Brigade and among the resistance in general.”</p>
<p>“The departure of Muhammad Zubeidi and Wissam Hanoun undoubtedly has a
significant impact, but it will not be the impact that the Israeli
occupation desires in the sense of leading to division or stopping the
Brigade’s work,” he continued. “The Jenin Brigade has become an
institution; one person can cover for another, regardless of their name
and influence on the streets. We will continue, God willing, until our
last breath.”</p>
<p>He informed us that, in their fight, “there are differences in the
balance of power [between Israel and the resistance], and this has a
considerable impact.” </p>
<p>“However, this power imbalance has existed between us and the
occupation since the beginning of this phase of struggle,” he continued.
“We fought the Israeli army with all its weapons and equipment. At that
time, we did not exceed 50 fighters, but our thinking, awareness, and
belief — the firm belief in victory and the rightful claim to the land —
are what make us present on the battlefields. Even if there is a
difference in the balance of power, I continue because I am a human who
wants to live with dignity and life. If it is a life of dignity, is
worth living.”</p>
<p>Political analyst Ayman Youssef says that Jenin has historically had
an exceptional role in the struggle and resistance against occupation,
and this continues today. He points to the distinctiveness of Jenin’s
experience today, where there is coordination and a joint operations
room among all resistance factions, embodying national unity in the West
Bank. Despite Israel’s success in reaching some wanted individuals and
resistance fighters, he considers it unlikely that the idea of
resistance and struggle will end, emphasizing that it is an ideological
and steadfast concept that transcends generations.</p>
<p>“Jenin, with its social and resistance-oriented character, including
the presence of the camp and rural areas, represents a rare case,”
Youssef told <em>Mondoweiss</em>, believing that resistance in Jenin
will continue to renew and reinvent itself over time. Most importantly,
he points out that the resistance in Jenin is not monopolized by a
single political faction or group — it is the camp that resists through
the various factions. The Jenin Brigade is the current expression of
that resistance, and this tradition will not go away. </p>
<p>On the contrary, Youssef argues, the Jenin model has spread over the
past two years, replicating itself in refugee camps in the northern West
Bank, including the refugee camps of Nour Shams in Tulkarem, Balata in
Nablus, Aqbat Jaber in Jericho, and al-Far’a in Tubas. The refugees in
these camps, coupled with the absence of social and political justice,
continue to fuel and galvanize the national movement, pushing it
forward. While these movements may sometimes fade, Youssef asserts, they
will undoubtedly renew over time.</p>
<h2><strong>War on the people, from Gaza to Jenin</strong></h2>
<p>At the beginning of any Israeli military operation in the Jenin area,
military convoys are dispatched to the entrances of the Jenin
Government Hospital and the Ibn Sina Hospital, the two largest hospitals
in the city, in addition to three other hospitals. The army enforces a
blockade on all these medical facilities, preventing anyone from
entering or exiting, which has hindered the arrival of patients and the
injured to the hospitals. The army has even conducted searches and
inspections of ambulances, impeding and delaying paramedics, who are not
allowed to enter the camp without security coordination.</p>
<p>With every injury transported by ambulances, Israeli forces halt the
vehicle and search it, while checking the identity of the injured person
— if their name is not on the wanted list, they allow them to pass
after much delay. In the last raid on December 12, at least three
wounded individuals died en route to the hospital due to the deliberate
delays in the army’s search procedures. A child named Ahmad Samara, 13,
died after Israeli forces prevented his admittance into the hospital
because he was being transported in a civilian vehicle. His father was
forced to carry him on foot, and by the time he reached the hospital, it
was too late.</p>
<p>The director of the Jenin Government Hospital, Wisam Bakr, tells <em>Mondoweiss</em>
that live bullets and tear gas canisters are often fired toward the
hospital. On one occasion, a young man in the hospital courtyard was
shot and killed with live ammunition by an Israeli sniper.</p>
<p>“With the beginning of any military operation in Jenin, Israeli
military vehicles station in front of the hospital gates, surrounding it
and preventing the exit of ambulances to transport the wounded,
martyrs, or even patients,” Bakr said. “The situation in the hospitals
is very critical; it is difficult for kidney patients to reach their
dialysis sessions due to the restrictions on people’s movement in the
streets, posing a danger to their lives.”</p>
<img width="440" height="293" src="https://mondoweiss.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_5179-1024x683.jpg" alt="Israeli army stops and searches ambulances during a raid of Jenin refugee camp (Photo: Shatha Hanaysha)" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" style="margin-right: 25px;">Israeli army stops and searches ambulances during a raid of Jenin refugee camp (Photo: Shatha Hanaysha)
<p>Ayman Youssef suggests that what is taking place in Jenin today is a
microcosm of Israel’s recent war in Gaza — from attacking hospitals,
schools, and infrastructure to the assassination of journalists,
intellectuals, and doctors. This includes besieging hospitals, uprooting
national symbols, and destroying streets. </p>
<p>This is because what Israel is doing in Gaza and Jenin, Youssef
argues, reflects the implementation of a scorched-earth strategy. This
means the destruction of all aspects of life, including civil and
community structures, to alienate popular support for the resistance.
This strategy also occasionally contains tactical goals, such as
uncovering booby-traps and IEDs, but the overarching objective of the
scale of destruction is clear: to lay waste to the society of the camp
in the hopes of driving a wedge between the people and the resistance. </p>
<p>Youssef believes that such actions will not have their intended
effect, noting that such tactics usually follow when the Israeli army
has already failed to achieve its goals against the resistance,
resorting to destroying human infrastructure.</p>
<img width="440" height="293" src="https://mondoweiss.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/131223_Jenin_MN_2_009-1024x683.jpg" alt="Palestinians resist Israeli forces during the three-day Israeli raid on Jenin, December 13, 2023. (Photo: Mohammed Nasser/APA Images)" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" style="margin-right: 25px;">Palestinians
resist Israeli forces during the three-day Israeli raid on Jenin,
December 13, 2023. (Photo: Mohammed Nasser/APA Images)
<h2><strong>‘All for the resistance’</strong></h2>
<p>The Israeli strategy for Jenin is, therefore, to target both the
resistance and the people of the camp, hoping that the latter will no
longer tolerate the presence of the former after such sustained
collective punishment.</p>
<p>Firas Al-Ghoul, a camp resident whose house was raided by the Israeli
forces, asserts that the Israeli military invades civilian homes in the
camp, destroying their contents and vandalizing them, even when the
homeowners are not affiliated with the resistance. The Israeli forces go
beyond that, bulldozing areas in front of the houses and the
surrounding roads, creating mounds of dirt in front of shops and homes.</p>
<p>“Nothing is spared, neither trees, nor people, nor streets,” Al-Ghoul told <em>Mondoweiss</em>.
“This is a systematic policy carried out by the occupation against us
to displace us from our homes and evacuate the camp. However, no matter
what the occupation does, we will not leave our homes except to return
to our lands, from which we were expelled in 1948.” </p>
<p>Haniyya Hassan, a 60-year-old woman living with her 70-year-old
husband in the camp, says that they cannot leave their house due to
their age and that the Israeli army invaded and ransacked their home.
The streets in front of their house were bulldozed in the most recent
incursion, and now vehicles can’t reach their home. “Why does the
Israeli military invade and destroy our house?” Haniyya says. “A home
that belongs to elderly people living alone, with no youth or resistance
fighters living with them?”</p>
<p>The repeated destruction is meant to wear down the people of the
camp, especially as winter approaches and some homes become flooded with
rainwater. Residents attempt to repair certain roads and rebuild
infrastructure, but the Israeli military just comes back in and destroys
everything all over again. </p>
<p>Yet, in spite of this calculated Israeli policy, when you walk
through the camp’s streets and ask people, they will respond with a
unified answer: “A sacrifice for the resistance. The important thing is
that the youth [resistance righters] are safe.”</p>
<hr>
<p><strong><a href="https://mondoweiss.net/author/shatha-hanaysha/">Shatha Hanaysha</a><br></strong>Shatha Hanaysha is a Palestinian journalist based in Jenin in the occupied West Bank.</p></div></div></div>
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