Israeli forces raided on Jenin on May 21, 2024 to May 23.

On May 21, at 8 a.m. in a single hour, Israeli snipers killed seven bystanders at the Jenin Refugee Camp and injured more than 12 by live ammunition. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said the operation targeted Hamas and PIJ gunmen, but acknowledged that some unarmed individuals were caught in the crossfire. These explanations doesn't convince and international journalists as much as left-wing Israeli journalists like Haaretz are warning about the event.

In this operation on an illegaly occupied territory, Israeli snipers fired at Palestinian civilians, school teachers and students, ambulances, medics, and journalists.

The scale of the human toll and the profile of the victims as well as the blatant abuses against the civilian population, schools and the health system blatantly raise the question of impunity.

All the civilians killed during the Israeli military raid in Jenin on May 21, 2024, were victims of gunfire during the operation:

1. Dr. Jabareen, (Surgeon) a 50-year-old surgeon at the Jenin Government Hospital, was shot dead by Israeli forces as he travelled to work at Jenin Government Hospital, where he was a surgeon. The Palestinian Health Ministry accused Israeli forces of deliberately targeting him, emphasizing that he was a civilian and not involved in any militant activity.

2. Mahmoud Hamadna, (a teenage schoolboy 9th Grade), was shot while riding his bicycle through the streets of Jenin. Palestinian media reported that he was killed by Israeli gunfire, and a photograph was shared showing his body lying next to his bicycle in a side street.

3. Allam Jaradat, a schoolteacher, was killed by Israeli fire while on duty at Walid Abu Muwais Basic School in Jenin. Palestinian media reported that he was shot while inside his car. A photograph showed a pool of blood on the back seat of the vehicle, indicating where he was fatally shot. Wafa photo showed a pool of blood on the back seat of his car.

4-7) Other Civilians

The Palestinian Health Ministry reported a total of seven Palestinians killed during the operation on May 21 including 2 children, a schoolteacher and a surgeon. It is assumed that these civilians were also killed by Israeli gunfire during the exchanges between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants.

In addition to these killings, there were also between 12 and 19 injuries reported among civilians, including two severly, (a female paramedic wounded by shrapnel and a 17-year-old suffered serious gunshot injuries) some of whom were school students.

Stray Bullet Injures Photojournalist:

Palestinian photojournalist Amr Mansara was hit by a stray bullet fired by Israeli forces while documenting the raid. He was helped by local people and later reports the injury to AFP news agency, stating he was hit in the back of his leg. Israeli forces open fire at journalists in Jenin in the West Bank and surround a hotel where journalists are present.

Large-scale infrastructure demolition preventing emergency rescue :

An AFP correspondent reported seeing Israeli armoured bulldozers had dug up the surface of the road between the government hospital and Jenin’s refugee camp with the aim of making access to emergency care difficult. Ambulances were shot by IDF to prevent they can access to the injured. According to the Red Crescent, there were school students among the injured in Jenin, and the occupation army obstructed medical crews from reaching them.

Jenin Government Hospital & Khalil Suleiman Hospital besieged

Israeli forces besieged Jenin Government Hospital, bulldozed nearby streets, and deployed snipers who fired at civilians near the hospital. Dr. Mustafa Hamrsha reported a critical medical crisis, with ambulances blocked and staff unable to handle the influx of injuries. Israeli snipers reportedly fired at anyone near Khalil Suleiman Hospital and indiscriminately at people in the courtyard of Jenin Government Hospital.

Schools besieged or evacuated:

“They started shooting at a school, … at the students and at the teachers,” camp resident Abdul Rub told Al Jazeera. According to the Director of Education in Jenin, Salam Al-Taher, all schools in the city of Jenin and its camp were evacuated, with the exception of some students in Al-Karama and Al-Zahraa schools due to the seriousness of the current events. According to Muhammad al-Sabbagh, the head of the Popular Committee for Jenin Camp Services, students from UNRWA schools were besieged all the day.

Home invasion

A 50-year-old woman was detained after soldiers raided her home in al-Marah neighborhood and assaulted family members.

Other exactions

Streets, vegetable stalls, and commercial properties were destroyed. Israeli soldiers occupied Homes and turned into military outposts. Ahmed Barakat’s two-story house was demolished without notice, leaving 10 family members homeless.

Perfidy war crime

Israeli troops were seen entering Jenin in an undercover vehicle, which constitutes a crime of perfidy under international humanitarian law. According to an investigation by the Palestinian human rights group Al-Haq and London-based research group Forensic Architecture, Israel typically sends undercover soldiers into West Bank cities to monitor and assess the area before the army or special forces arrive. The previous week before the raid, several undercover Israeli soldiers pretending to be Palestinians came into Jenin and took up positions among the homes to survey the camp.

IDF statement:

The Israeli military said they launched the operation as part of a "counter-terrorism measure" targeting militants from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, but it is not clear if the civilians killed were deliberately targeted or caught in the broader exchange of fire.

Local response:

Palestinians condemned the raid, with Hamas calling it a "massacre." The Palestinian Authority also criticized the killing of civilians, including medical staff.

Israeli forces typically destroy entire neighbourhoods, claiming they are harbouring fighters. Civilians are punished in the process – killed, arrested or made homeless, residents and activists.

List of the names of civilians murdered :

1. Dr. Oussaid Jabareen, 50, surgeon at Jenin Government Hospital, shot dead on his way to work.

2. Mahmoud Amjad Hamdneh, 15 A teenage boy in ninth grade, killed while riding a bicycle.

3. Allam Jaradat, 48, A schoolteacher, killed while on duty at Walid Abu Muwais Basic School.

4. Osama Mohammed, 16.

5. Muammar Mohammad Abu Omeira, 50.

6. Amir Issam Abu Omeria, 22.

7. Bassem Mahmoud Turkman, 53.

An Israeli soldier aims his gun at a press photographer. Photograph: Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP/Getty Images

Journalists carry their colleague after he was shot in the back of his leg during an Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank Jenin refugee camp, Tuesday, 21 May. Photograph: Majdi Mohammed/AP

Israeli forces shot on the ambulance to prevent rescuing injured civilians.

Sources :

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