Muhammad Ateeq & Fayha Shalash
Middle East Eye / August 31, 2024
Residents say they were trapped by soldiers for days, cut off from food and electricity.
Israeli soldiers have forcibly removed Palestinians from their homes in Jenin as a major offensive in the occupied West Bank enters its fourth day.
Residents told Middle East Eye that many are trapped in their homes without access to food, water or electricity, as Israeli forces maintain a tight siege on the city.
Dozens of families have been forced out of their homes in raids conducted by Israeli troops.
“We were cut off from the world, with no communication or internet, and we didn’t know anything about what was happening,” Abdul Rahman Abu Raya, a Jenin resident, told Middle East Eye.
Abu Raya said troops stormed his home and forced all family members, including 12 children, into two rooms after the raid began on Wednesday.
The family was denied access to basic needs during this time, he added, including milk, bread and medicine.
“If they could have cut off the air, they would have,” Abu Raya said.
“Since 2002, we haven’t witnessed such a brutal incursion.”
The Israeli offensive, which began early Wednesday, involved simultaneous air and ground attacks on Jenin, Tulkarm and Tubas in the northern West Bank.
At least 21 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said that among the dead were several children and a disabled person.
By Friday evening, the Israeli military had withdrawn from Tulkarm and Tubas but remained in Jenin, which has now become the main focus of the assault.
Palestinian media reported intense fighting on Saturday between Israeli troops and Palestinian fighters, as Israeli military bulldozers caused widespread destruction to the city’s roads and civilian infrastructure.
‘The destruction is enormous’
Abu Raya said his family was among several others forced to leave Jenin on Friday by Israeli forces.
Local media reported more forced ejections on Saturday.
Between Wednesday and Friday, Abu Raya said they had little information about the scale of the attack, as they were trapped in their home by Israeli forces.
On Friday night, he and his family left on foot.
Carrying his one-year-old child, he walked for 4km before exiting the city and witnessing the devastation firsthand.
“The extent of the destruction is enormous,” he said.
Among the civilian structures damaged by the Israeli attacks was the Khalid Ibn al-Walid Mosque in Abu Raya’s neighbourhood, he added.
As he walked past the mosque, he saw a wounded Palestinian lying on the ground with his hand tied, but he could not confirm whether the person was alive or dead.
Abu Raya added that snipers are stationed in nearly every building in the neighbourhood, shooting at anyone who moves or even at windows with moving curtains behind them.
Meanwhile, many residents have been arrested from their homes and subjected to field interrogations and harsh treatment.
“We left our homes, but thousands are still suffering there under the strict siege and fierce incursion,” he said.
“There are still casualties in the streets that no one can reach.”
The Israeli offensive follows months of escalating violence against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
At least 41,319 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since 7 October 2023, including 628 in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
Muhammad Ateeq is a Palestinian journalist and photographer based in Jenin
Fayha Shalash is a Palestinian journalist based in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank
