– Be careful, says Abdul Salam as we climb the stairs to his house. There is twisted metal and concrete remains in the stairs. – The whole house can collapse at any time, says the 56-year-old. He takes us to what only a week ago was a newly renovated living room. That is before Israeli forces on Monday launched the biggest operation in the West Bank in 20 years. – Here is the bar I built with my own hands. Here we served our guests tea, coffee and finger food. THE BOMB: Abdul Salam behind the bar he built in the living room a few months ago. Photo: Yama Wolasmal – Over there was our new sofa group, and here I had built a separate TV room for my children, says the craftsman as he picks up parts of the flat screen that have melted on the living room floor. Now everything has literally gone up in smoke. We are standing in a charred room where everything has been burnt down to the concrete. Two of the outer walls facing the street are blown walls. The reinforcing steel is visible from the roof. Were forced out – Israeli soldiers told us to get out. They said our house was a suspicious building that was going to be bombed. – We were given an hour to pack up our lives, before they forced us out, says the father of six. He says that the soldiers placed explosives in several places in the house and, among other things, blew the living room to pieces. Now the house is left as a shell of a building, with a bombed out floor and large cracks in the rest of the facade. EXPLODED: This is what Abdul Salam and Hala’s house looks like after the Israeli attack. Photo: Nadir Alam On a living room table in another room, the teacups, candy and the deck of cards the family played with are still there – completely covered in concrete dust. The family man is surprisingly composed as he walks through the ruins to salvage what he can of belongings and memories. Things are worse with his wife Hala. – God, destruction everywhere, she says as she enters the children’s room. A large piece from the heavy metal front door has drilled through several walls and is wedged in one of the children’s wardrobes. CHILDREN’S ROOM: Hala is angry at Israeli soldiers who blew up parts of her house. Photo: Yama Wolasmal She covers her mouth to hold back tears. – They have even torn our clothes to shreds. Look, there are bullet holes in all the cupboards, she says and picks up a holey little dress. We have nothing to go with anymore. Why? Many of the residents of the camp in Jenin are left with that question after the Israeli attack: – Why were our homes bombed and destroyed? – The hunt for terrorists news has for several days asked for an interview with the spokesman for the Israeli defense force, the IDF, to give them the opportunity to explain what happened during the operation in Jenin. We have sent several written inquiries to the press office, but have only received an answer that they do not have the opportunity to be interviewed. The IDF has been active on Twitter. they write that they attacked armed Palestinian groups based in the refugee camp. They believe that fighters from here have been behind a number of shooting incidents and knife attacks on Israeli citizens. At least 25 Israelis have been killed in the past year. Many of the killers have been young men from the camp in Jenin. The IDF has published images of explosives and weapons they say they found in the refugee camp during the major offensive. Twitter message from the IDF where they show off weapons they say they have found in the refugee camp. Photo: Twitter – We will continue as long as necessary to end terrorism. We will not let Jenin once again become a haven for terrorism, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said after the two-day operation was over. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the operation in Jenin was aimed at terrorists who want to wipe out Israel. Photo: AP There is no doubt that there are fighters in the camp in Jenin. They go by the name of the “Jenin Brigades”, and are made up of young men from all kinds of backgrounds, from the unemployed to well-educated men who work as doctors and engineers. They have become fed up with the Israeli occupation and have taken up arms. For Israel, they are terrorists. For Palestinians, they are freedom heroes who are celebrated. WARRIORS: There are several hundred militant Palestinians in the refugee camp in Jenin. Israel considers them terrorists. Photo: Reuters The Israeli operation was the largest in the occupied West Bank in 20 years. Israel sent in about 1,000 commandos, hundreds of armored vehicles, drones and attack helicopters against the small camp, which measures less than a square kilometer. At least 12 Palestinians were killed in the Israeli offensive. Three of them were children. Over 100 people are injured. Most of them shot in the torso by Israeli snipers, according to Palestinian health authorities. The Israeli prime minister assured that his soldiers had done everything they could to minimize harm to civilians. Both the UN and the residents of Jenin completely disagree with that. The attack by a police dog – The Israelis knocked down our front door without warning, and unleashed an aggressive police dog on me, says Palestinian Ammar, who meets us in the living room which is facing the end of the soldiers. – The dog attacked me. I was thrown to the ground by the dog, but managed to keep him away from my face by pulling hard on his ears. INJURED: Ammer was bitten by an Israeli police dog, he says. As he fends off the dog, he says he is surrounded by Israeli soldiers who point automatic weapons at his head. – Let go of the dog and put your arms aside, otherwise we’ll shoot you in the head, they screamed, says the 45-year-old. When he lets go of the dog, it runs loose on his leg. It bites into his calf. – I screamed at the top of my lungs without the soldiers removing the dog. They stood around and pointed their weapons at me, says Ammar, showing us the bite marks on the leg. The father of the family limps around the living room and shows us around. – They used my house as a kind of post office. From here they attacked other houses in the neighbourhood, says the Palestinian. The Israeli Defense Forces say they only attacked the hideouts of militant Palestinians. Are you, or someone in your family, part of the armed resistance? – Absolutely not. I have four children and am an ordinary car mechanic, says Ammar. – When I asked the Israelis why they destroyed my house, they only said that they were fired upon from my neighborhood and that they suspected me of being part of the resistance. – A suspicion is enough for the Israelis to destroy my life, says Ammar. Long history of resistance The camp in Jenin is reminiscent of the favelas in Brazil. Brick house clinging up a small hill. Narrow alleys of 4–5 meters separate the houses that are close together. Between 15-20,000 refugees live here in a tiny area. This is what it looked like in parts of the refugee camp during the major Israeli attack. Photo: AFP These are people who were driven to flight when Israel was established more than 75 years ago. The narrow streets were like death traps for the Israeli soldiers who feared being shot at. Therefore, they found another way to move around the camp. Ammar shows us a large, gaping hole in the living room wall. – The soldiers physically broke through the house walls to get safely from house to house. To avoid being shot at in the streets, Israeli soldiers broke through the walls of houses to go from house to house. Photo: Yama Wolasmal Now he is left in a destroyed and razed home. How are you going to rebuild your house? – I don’t even know where to start. The house was all we had. But thank God they didn’t kill or arrest anyone in my family, says Ammar, holding tightly to his 12-year-old son who is standing next to him. Resentment and hatred CROWDED: The houses in the refugee camp are close together. Hala, the mother of six, walks around the bombed-out house in shock, while she picks up the children’s toys, drawings and brushes dust from family photos that lie broken on the floor. – It is absolutely terrible. Why did this happen to us. We are just ordinary civilians. The man says the worst part was explaining to his youngest son, nine, why their house was destroyed by Israeli soldiers. – I had to say it as it is. The Jews did this.
ttn-69
news meets the residents of the refugee camp in Jenin, which was under a massive Israeli attack for two days – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
