| Israel escalates attacks in Jenin |
| Palestinian journalists and reporters routinely risk their lives documenting Israeli violence — whether it be in the form of live fire, tear gas, or perpetual incarceration — they have continued to shed light on the realities of Israeli settler colonialism. |
| Palestinian resistance in Jenin Yesterday, June 19, Israeli forces invaded the Jenin refugee camp in a large-scale incursion, launching a violent assault and killing 6 Palestinians, including a 15-year-old child. The Israeli raid left approximately 90 injured due to the attack, with 23 in critical condition. In one of the most violent assaults on the Jenin refugee camp in years, Israeli forces used a combination of live fire, tear gas, stun grenades, and bombing via rocket-launching helicopters to assault Palestinians and destroy access to resources. This comes after months of increasing violence against the people of Jenin and their commitment to maintaining steadfast resistance. |
| Over the last few years, Israeli forces have perpetuated semi-regular incursions and assaults on Jenin with increasing frequency and violence. The raid yesterday took place near the location of Shireen Abu Aqleh’s murder in May 2022. This time, Israeli forces killed six Palestinians in an alleged effort to arrest two Palestinians engaged in resistance. Their names are Ahmed Saqr (15), Ahmad Daraghme (19), Khaled Darwish (21), Qassam Sariya (19), Qassam Faisal Abu Sirriya (29), and Amjad Aref al-Jaas (48), who died from his wounds this morning. al -Jaas is the second martyr in his immediate family this year, as his son, 22-year-old Waseem, was also killed by Israeli forces in the January 25 massacre in the Jenin refugee camp. Israeli forces’ use of bombing to target the camp was a return to the tactics used in the 2002 Battle of Jenin to perpetrate massacres and impose terror on the Palestinian refugees living in Jenin, many of whom originate from Haifa and the Jabal al Karmil area. Israel forces killed 52 Palestinians in ten days during the Battle of Jenin. The Israeli military targeted medics and journalists with live ammunition during the incursion yesterday. While some journalists reported being trapped in place by Israeli forces’ violence, reporter Hazem Nasser was shot in the shoulder. It was also reported that Israeli forces were firing at people in Ibn Sina Hospital. It is essential to understand that Israeli forces are targeting Jenin, with escalating violence and vile techniques, because the Palestinian people of Jenin continue to maintain and demonstrate their commitment to organized resistance. Yesterday, despite the deadly attacks by Israeli forces, Palestinian resistance reported that they had successfully damaged at least five Israeli tanks with explosive devices. Following the assault, Palestinians in the Jenin refugee camp celebrated this successful disabling of some of the weapons used to subjugate and murder them, parading the remnants of destroyed military vehicles through their communities. This refusal to bow to the heavy weight of settler colonial aggression and lethal violence is powerful—and threatening to the state. We stand with the people of Jenin and the rest of Palestine. After another bloody massacre in the camp, we remember that tangible resistance to the settler colonial system of domination — of land and resource seizure and elimination of indigenous Palestinians — maintains Palestinian dignity and serves as the greatest threat to zionist oppression. As it becomes increasingly clear how far Israel will go to disrupt Palestinian resistance and solidarity, we recommit ourselves daily to upholding the values for which those around us are sacrificing their safety and lives, and finding new ways to bring us closer to justice and decolonization. |
