Jenin: UN Voices Alarm Over Israeli Operation in West Bank – News18

The UN Secretary-General has expressed deep concern about the developments in Jenin in the West Bank, where Israeli airstrikes have reportedly hit a refugee camp there.

In a statement from his spokesperson on Monday, UN Chief António Guterres affirmed that all military operations must be conducted with full respect for international humanitarian law.

The latest operation follows another such operation in the camp on June 19, which left four Palestinians killed and 91 others injured, according to UN agencies.

On Tuesday, the UN’s humanitarian affairs coordination office (OCHA) said that as a result of the air and ground operations taking place in the West Bank town, 10 Palestinians including three children were killed.

At least 100 others have been injured, of whom 20 are reportedly in critical condition, OCHA said. Thousands of residents have reportedly left the camp since the operation began.

In an apparent retaliatory attack in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv on Tuesday, seven people were injured, three seriously, when a Palestinian man drove into pedestrians standing outside a shopping centre, according to news reports.

The attacker was shot and killed by an Israeli citizen at the scene. Palestinian militant group Hamas reportedly described the attack as a direct response to the military operation in Jenin.

Airstrikes in Jenin “significantly damaged” structures in which people were living in both the camp and surrounding neighbourhoods. The agency warned that due to damage to infrastructure, most of the Jenin camp has lost access to drinking water and electricity.

The UN Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), said that many residents were in urgent need of food, drinking water and milk powder for children.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday that the extent of people’s injuries was placing strain on the “fragile and underfunded” health system.

UN humanitarians said that the destruction of roads in the refugee camp was restricting access for medical teams and ambulances, and Israeli forces were conducting checks on vehicles, including ambulances, at the entrance of the camp.

According to the UN health agency, ambulances with medical teams have been prevented from entering parts of the refugee camp and reaching persons who have been critically injured.

In a statement released on Tuesday, UN human rights chief Volker Türk said that the extensive Jenin operation and car-ramming attack in Tel Aviv showed “violence only begets more violence.”

He said the scale of the Israeli operation “raised a host of serious issues” regarding international human rights standards.