Israeli forces launched air and ground attacks against the Jenin refugee camp, injuring dozens.

Qatar issued a statement to condemn an Israeli raid in Jenin on Monday that killed at least nine people, in the latest such aggression on the West Bank city.

“The State of Qatar condemns in the strongest terms the repetition of the Israeli occupation’s aggression against the city of Jenin and its camp, resulting in several deaths and injuries,” a foreign ministry statement read on Monday.

“It also considers this aggression a new episode in the ongoing series of attacks and horrific crimes against the defenceless Palestinian people,” it added.

Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned “of the fading chances of peace and the expansion of the cycle of violence due to the continuous Israeli escalation in the Occupied Palestinian territories.”

The statement also called on the international community to” act urgently to provide the necessary protection to the Palestinian people, and oblige Israel to stop its flagrant violations of international law and respect the resolutions of international legitimacy.”

On Monday, Palestinian locals and officials said Israel’s military launched air attacks on the Jenin refugee camp in the northern occupied West Bank, the latest in a series of ongoing assaults by Israeli forces against Palestinians.

On the ground

Palestinian residents reported Israel launched at least ten airstrikes on Jenin overnight, sending smoke rising from building debris. In addition, a convoy of dozens of Israeli armoured vehicles surrounded the refugee camp and conducted a ground military assault, causing extensive damage to buildings and roadways.

The strikes on Monday came amid an increase in aggression on the West Bank, including the first Israeli drone attack in the area since 2006, increased military operations on Jenin and the northern occupied Palestinian territory, and settler attacks in Palestinian villages. 

The attack was described as “a new war crime against our defenceless people” by a spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

The Joint Operations Room of the Palestinian Resistance Factions, an umbrella group comprising political parties in Gaza, said in a statement: “We call on all our people in cities, villages and camps, especially around Jenin, to confront the Israeli occupation and support Jenin.

“We call on the resistance fighters in all arenas to respond to any aggression if the Israeli occupation continues its crimes against our people.”

Rising resistance

Over the past two years, the Jenin refugee camp has endured an escalating series of attacks by Israeli forces. The city, along with Nablus in the northern occupied West Bank, has witnessed the rise of a new generation of Palestinian combatants opposing Israel’s extended military occupation.

This rise of newly formed resistance groups is a direct consequence of the widespread popular uprising of Palestinian resistance that occurred in May 2021. The outpouring of defiance started in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of occupied East Jerusalem and subsequently triggered Israel’s conflict with armed factions in Gaza.

Israel’s persistent incursions in Jenin are perceived as an attempt to quash the growing resistance in the area, as younger Palestinians are more frequently resorting to arms. They contend that they have no other option to combat the occupation and are becoming increasingly disenchanted with the perceived decline in the Palestinian Authority’s efficacy.