Skip to main content

Waging an open war, Israel's most lethal attack in Jenin in West Bank for twenty years

By Harsh Thakor 

Israeli attacks continue with full venom on the Palestinian people in the West Bank that began on Monday 19th June. An attack of such a magnitude has not been reported in the West Bank for 20 years. It illustrated Israel escalating it’s ruthless aggression ,in intensity rarely surpassed.
Israeli military forces raided a refugee camp in the northern West Bank on Monday, sparking the most intense day of fighting in years as Palestinian militants detonated roadside bombs and Israeli helicopter gunships struck Palestinian gunmen to rescue troops trapped.
At least five Palestinians were killed, including a 15-year-old boy, and over 90 others were wounded, Palestinian health officials said. Seven Israeli soldiers were also wounded, the army said.
The Israeli State is mercilessly attacking, specifically the Jenin refugee camp, where there are six dead and 100 Palestinian people injured. The Israeli State is deploying a great military armament to attack, after 20 years, Jenin refugee camp. Among the weapons, utilised are military, armored vehicles, drones and combat helicopters like Apache AH64, a US-manufactured and large power helicopter, launching missiles.
For the first time helicopter gunship was utilised in the occupied West Bank since the second Palestinian uprising around two decades ago. The Jenin refugee camp, a long a militant stronghold, witnessed some of the fiercest battles at the time.
An attack of such a scale of intensity had not been witnessed in the area since the second intifada, the great Palestinian uprising against the Israeli attacks that lasted five years and left 5,000 dead Palestinians. In this latest attack, six Palestinians were executed. It included a 15 -year -old boy. There are also 100 wounded, 23 of them severely injured, including journalist Hazem Nasser who was shot in the chest while filming a building in flames. The director of the hospital where the majority of injured are hospitalized affirmed that the IDF fired a bullet at everyone who dispersed outside the hospital.
Previously attacks in the area were frequent. So far this year, there have been 164 murders of Palestinians in the West Bank, including 22 minors, tripling the data of the same period last year. In addition, the Israeli State has kidnapped 16 people during this month, including a former political prisoner, in the cities of Silwan, Tarama, Ramallah, Hebron and Jenin. In Nablus, the West Bank, on June 15, two Palestinians died, one from a gunshot wound and another for being run over by a military vehicle. 170 people were left poisoned by smoke inhalation. The attack in Nablus was undertaken to award a collective punishment and demolish a house of a political prisoner.
According to the Oslo II Agreement, in which Palestinian lands are granted to Israel and Nablus and Jenin belong to Palestine. Still Israel State seeks to annex them as part of their territory. The Palestinian people combated these attacks, with high ferocity, through militias. Jenin is one of the refugee camps inhabiting more Palestinian militias. Battalion of Jenin resisted the aggression with firearms when the Israeli army barged into the city. The clashes prevailed for more than ten hours. In addition, an armoured vehicle was destroyed with an explosive device, which trapped two Israeli soldiers inside. In total there have been seven wounded and hospitalized of the Israeli army.
The Israeli State alleges that the attack was carried out for the purpose of capturing the son of a Palestinian leader detained in an Israeli jail. However on June 18th news broke that the coalition government had proclaimed an order to build 4,560 houses for settlers in the occupied West Bank and finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, who would control the West Bank area, was empowered to avoid the common process for building. “We will continue to develop the settlement and strengthen Israeli control over the territory,” he declared.
The Palestinian leadership and other Arab states in no uncertain terms condemned the Israeli raid. Hussein al-Sheikh, a senior Palestinian official, accused Israel of waging “a fierce and open war” against the Palestinian people. Egypt’s Foreign Ministry condemned Israel’s “continued escalation against the Palestinians,” saying the violence violated steps to dilute regional tensions.
The Palestinian cabinet strongly blasted out against the ongoing Israeli aggression on the city of Jenin and its camp."The international silence and double standards encourage the Israeli government to practice more killing, destruction and intimidation against our people, and as long as the Israel forces, the occupying power, will not be held accountable for their crimes, such aggression and assault will continue,".
"Our people will confront such aggression," they added, "all ministries are ready to provide what is needed to support our people in Jenin." Most encouraging witnessing the unflinching resilience of the Palestinian people resisting the tyranny of Israel.
---
Harsh Thakor is freelance journalist who thanks information from Red Herald New Arab blog and El Pais

Comments

TRENDING

Dalit woman student’s death sparks allegations of institutional neglect in Himachal college

By A Representative   A Dalit rights organisation has alleged severe caste- and gender-based institutional violence leading to the death of a 19-year-old Dalit woman student at Government Degree College, Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, and has demanded arrests, resignations, and an independent inquiry into the case.

Domestic vote-bank politics 'behind official solidarity' with Bangladeshi Hindus

By Sandeep Pandey, Faisal Khan  The Indian government has registered a protest with Bangladesh over the mob lynching of two Hindus—Deepu Chandra Das in Mymensingh and Amrit Mandal in Rajbari. In its communication, the government cited a report by the Association of Hindus, Buddhists and Christian Unity Council, which claims that more than 2,900 incidents of killings, arson, and land encroachments targeting minorities have taken place since the interim government assumed power in Bangladesh. 

From colonial mercantilism to Hindutva: New book on the making of power in Gujarat

By Rajiv Shah  Professor Ghanshyam Shah ’s latest book, “ Caste-Class Hegemony and State Power: A Study of Gujarat Politics ”, published by Routledge , is penned by one of Gujarat ’s most respected chroniclers, drawing on decades of fieldwork in the state. It seeks to dissect how caste and class factors overlap to perpetuate the hegemony of upper strata in an ostensibly democratic polity. The book probes the dominance of two main political parties in Gujarat—the Indian National Congress and the BJP—arguing that both have sustained capitalist growth while reinforcing Brahmanic hierarchies.

NYT: RSS 'infiltrates' institutions, 'drives' religious divide under Modi's leadership

By Jag Jivan   A comprehensive New York Times investigation published on December 26, 2025, chronicles the rise of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) — characterized as a far-right Hindu nationalist organization — from a shadowy group founded in 1925 to the world's largest right-wing force, marking its centenary in 2025 with unprecedented influence and mainstream acceptance. Prime Minister Narendra Modi , who joined the RSS as a young boy and later became a full-time campaigner before being deputized to its political wing in the 1980s, delivered his strongest public tribute to the group in his August 2025 Independence Day address. Speaking from the Red Fort , he called the RSS a "giant river" with dozens of streams touching every aspect of Indian life, praising its "service, dedication, organization, and unmatched discipline." The report describes how the RSS has deeply infiltrated India's institutions — government, courts, police, media, and academia — ...

From protest to proof: Why civil society must rethink environmental resistance

By Shankar Sharma*  As concerned environmentalists and informed citizens, many of us share deep unease about the way environmental governance in our country is being managed—or mismanaged. Our complaints range across sectors and regions, and most of them are legitimate. Yet a hard question confronts us: are complaints, by themselves, effective? Experience suggests they are not.

2025 was not just a bad year—it was a moral failure, it normalised crisis

By Atanu Roy*  The clock has struck midnight. 2025 has passed, and 2026 has arrived. Firecrackers were already bursting in celebration. If this is merely a ritual, like Deepavali, there is little to comment on. Otherwise, I find 2025 to have been a dismal year, weighed down by relentless odds—perhaps the worst year I have personally witnessed.

History, culture and literature of Fatehpur, UP, from where Maulana Hasrat Mohani hailed

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*  Maulana Hasrat Mohani was a member of the Constituent Assembly and an extremely important leader of our freedom movement. Born in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, Hasrat Mohani's relationship with nearby district of Fatehpur is interesting and not explored much by biographers and historians. Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri has written a book on Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Fatehpur. The book is in Urdu.  He has just come out with another important book, 'Hindi kee Pratham Rachna: Chandayan' authored by Mulla Daud Dalmai.' During my recent visit to Fatehpur town, I had an opportunity to meet Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri and recorded a conversation with him on issues of history, culture and literature of Fatehpur. Sharing this conversation here with you. Kindly click this link. --- *Human rights defender. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat , X @freetohumanity, Skype @vbrawat

Celebrating 125 yr old legacy of healthcare work of missionaries

Vilas Shende, director, Mure Memorial Hospital By Moin Qazi* Central India has been one of the most fertile belts for several unique experiments undertaken by missionaries in the field of education and healthcare. The result is a network of several well-known schools, colleges and hospitals that have woven themselves into the social landscape of the region. They have also become a byword for quality and affordable services delivered to all sections of the society. These institutions are characterised by committed and compassionate staff driven by the selfless pursuit of improving the well-being of society. This is the reason why the region has nursed and nurtured so many eminent people who occupy high positions in varied fields across the country as well as beyond. One of the fruits of this legacy is a more than century old iconic hospital that nestles in the heart of Nagpur city. Named as Mure Memorial Hospital after a British warrior who lost his life in a war while defending his cou...

Epic war against caste system is constitutional responsibility of elected government

Edited by well-known Gujarat Dalit rights leader Martin Macwan, the book, “Bhed-Bharat: An Account of Injustice and Atrocities on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-18)” (available in English and Gujarati*) is a selection of news articles on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-2018) published by Dalit Shakti Prakashan, Ahmedabad. Preface to the book, in which Macwan seeks to answer key questions on why the book is needed today: *** The thought of compiling a book on atrocities on Dalits and thus present an overall Indian picture had occurred to me a long time ago. Absence of such a comprehensive picture is a major reason for a weak social and political consciousness among Dalits as well as non-Dalits. But gradually the idea took a different form. I found that lay readers don’t understand numbers and don’t like to read well-researched articles. The best way to reach out to them was storytelling. As I started writing in Gujarati and sharing the idea of the book with my friends, it occurred to me that while...