Israel launches air strikes and ground invasion of Jenin, 11 killed including four children, 100 injured
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8.15: MoH: Palestinian death toll rises to 11, including ten in Jenin and one in Al-Bireh.
23.24: Jenin residents “absolutely terrified” of an impending massacre in the camp after the army forces hundreds of families to evacuate. The army shot tear gas at fleeing families with young children.
22.39: The Red Crescent says 500 families have fled Jenin refugee camp this evening, after the Israeli army threatened to bomb them if they didn’t evacuate. Israeli soldiers are instructing Palestinians via loudspeakers to raise their hands as they walk in the streets, including the children.
22.15: MoH announces over 100 injuries due to live ammunition and airstrikes, including 20 in critical condition.
21.38: Hundreds of residents of Jenin refugee camp have begun seeking shelter for the night away from the ongoing Israeli airstrikes and gunfire.
21.25: The Palestinian police announce an officer was shot and moderately injured by the Israeli army while on patrol south of Nablus.
21.20: Confrontations break out between Palestinian youth and the Israeli army in Abu Dis and Shuafat refugee camp in occupied East Jerusalem.
21.12: The Palestinian Authority announces it is suspending security coordination and “all communication” with Israel.
19.48: Confrontations are taking place between Palestinian youth and the Israeli army in Al-Bireh, Bethlehem, Jericho, Tulkarem, Azoun, Beita, Jayyous, and Nabi Saleh.
19.37: Israel launches a series of consecutive airstrikes surrounding Al-Nasser mosque in Jenin.
19.31: Local media report 15 injuries in a single airstrike in the center of Jenin refugee camp.
19.13: CORRECTION: The death toll stands at nine. MoH reports 85 injuries from live ammunition and airstrikes, 17 of them in critical condition.
18.45: The Red Crescent evacuate five families “with great difficulty” from their homes after they were damaged in Israeli airstrikes.
17.52: MoH: The Palestinian death toll rises to ten.
17.35: Protests are taking place along the separation fence in Gaza against the Israeli invasion of Jenin. Marches are also taking place in Ramallah and other cities across the occupied West Bank. Nablus-based armed group The Lions’ Den has issued a statement claiming they are fighting in Jenin, and calling on Palestinians to gather a 7 PM to confront the army.
16.29: Jenin municipality asks residents to ration their water consumption.
16.07: The Israeli army have destroyed several water mains in Jenin, cutting residents’ access to water. According to Jenin municipality, the army is preventing municipality crews from conducting immediate repairs. The army also cut all access to electricity earlier this morning.
15.59: Jenin residents burn tires across the city in order to impede Israeli surveillance drones.
15.52: The Israeli army is laying siege to the Nasser mosque in the camp for the third consecutive hour, threatening to bomb it as Palestinian fighters are said to be hiding inside. Intense gunfire can be heard around the mosque’s vicinity.
Jerusalem24 – The Israeli military launched airstrikes and a ground invasion of the city of Jenin in the northern occupied West Bank in the early hours of Monday morning.
Nine Palestinians between the ages of 16 and 23 have been killed by Israeli fire as of noon Monday, including one Palestinian youth in Ramallah and Al-Bireh who was shot in the head while protesting Israel’s invasion of Jenin.
Armed drones and Apache helicopters conducted air strikes on a dozen different locations inside Jenin refugee camp. A number of residents including one child were injured during an Israeli drone strike that hit the vicinity of the famed Freedom Theater.
The Israeli army has cut off all electricity to the camp, making communication with the residents trapped inside difficult.
“Operation Home and Garden”
According to Israeli army spokesman Richard Hecht, the invasion took Palestinians “by surprise”. However, Jenin residents – and the rest of the West Bank – had been anticipating a ground- and air-invasion since Israel launched its very first airstrikes on the city in 20 years nearly two weeks ago.
Chief of the military’s West Bank division Avi Blot said the operation aimed to restore the Israeli army’s “freedom of action” in the occupied West Bank city.
Israeli military officials, who (allegedly unofficially) dubbed the invasion “Operation Home and Garden” (Bayit Vagan), expect to stay on the ground a limited amount of time.
#Israel has named its invasion of #jenin “Operation Home and Garden.”
As if all this death and destruction they are bringing is a nice sunny afternoon, or just some twisted joke. pic.twitter.com/58Q8xqwZGR— Mitchell Plitnick (@MJPlitnick) July 3, 2023
According to Hecht, the army is after “specific targets” and “not trying to hold ground”, although the spokesman also said there is “no specific timeline for ending the operation”.
An Israeli army statement claimed it had arrested over 20 Palestinian “suspects” by midday. However, there have been no Palestinian reports of arrests, other than stone-throwers nabbed from the streets by passing military jeeps.
Trapped by sniper fire
Although the invasion began shortly after midnight on Monday morning, and Israeli military-grade bulldozers prepared for a ground invasion by razing the tarmac off Palestinian streets across Jenin, destroying vehicles, stalls, and other infrastructure, Israeli troops still hadn’t entered Jenin refugee camp on foot by Monday afternoon, with intense firefights taking place instead on the outskirts of the camp.
(2/2) The Israeli army systematically used this tactic against the #Palestinian population in the occupied #WestBank during the Second #Intifada.#Jenin #Palestine #Israel pic.twitter.com/C0m23gxsm2
— Jerusalem24 (@J24FMPalestine) July 3, 2023
At least nine Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire so far, eight of which in Jenin, including 20-year-old Samih Firas Abu Al-Wafa, 19-year-old Aws Hani Hanoon, 18-year-old Hussam Abu Thiba, 16-year-old Noureddine Hussam Marshoud, 23-year-old Muhammad Muhannad Al-Shami, 21-year-old Ahmed Mohamed Amer, 17-year-old Majdi Arawi, and 17-year-old Ali Hani Al-Ghoul. At least 50 have been injured by live ammunition including 10 in critical condition.
Israeli snipers are hiding in buildings across the camp, invading homes and detaining families, and knocking holes in the walls in order to shoot, according to residents and footage released by the Israeli army itself, as well as directly targeting ambulances and preventing them from reaching the injured.
The Israeli forces obstruct and prevent ambulance crews from entering Al-Damej neighborhood in Jenin to transport the injured. pic.twitter.com/GBhgzUYfOX
— Issam Adwan عصام عدوان (@Issam_Adwan) July 3, 2023
In graphic mobile phone footage shared online, three Palestinian youths appear piled one on top of the other, injured and lifeless, while ambulances are prevented from reaching them. According to eyewitnesses, a first youth was shot by a sniper, before a second and third were shot while attempting to reach him.
Five Palestinian journalists also became trapped by Israeli sniper fire, destroying some of their equipment, and had to evacuate the camp in a Red Crescent ambulance.
Mid-morning, the Israeli military began sending Palestinian residents SMS messages ordering them to stay at home.
Elsewhere in the West Bank, 21-year-old Mohammad Emad Hassanein was shot and killed by the Israeli army north of Al-Bireh and Ramallah while protesting Israel’s invasion of Jenin in the early hours of Monday morning.
