As of noon Morocco time today, the death toll has reached double digits in the U.N.-condemned Israeli bombardment of civilians in Jenin, West Bank. One additional casualty has been reported in Ramallah as the ultra-nationalist, far right Israeli government continues its most horrific assault on Arab Palestinians in decades.
U.N. agencies have rightly raised concerns over the scale of the offensive, per Al Jazeera, adding that humanitarian assistance is being choked off from reaching those critically wounded, the number of which has reached triple digits.
“We are alarmed at the scale of air and ground operations that are taking place in Jenin in the occupied West Bank, and air strikes hitting a densely populated refugee camp,” Vanessa Huguenin, a spokesperson for the U.N. humanitarian office, disclosed in a briefing. She noted that three children had been killed.
In addition, Farhan Haq, deputy spokesperson for the U.N. Secretary General, has urged respect for international humanitarian law, labeling the current conduct as “unacceptable.”
Disturbingly, Doctors Without Borders has condemned the denial of medical access at the camp, in calling for health workers to be “…assured of unhindered access to those in need of medical care.”
The Palestinian Red Crescent added that it has evacuated about 3,000 people from the Jenin Camp, where around 14,000 live in Israel’s potential path of destruction.
In retaliation to the raids, a motorist rammed his vehicle into a civilian crowd in Tel Aviv, resulting in six casualties. According to Israeli police, he was shot dead shortly thereafter. Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qasem said that the attack in Israel’s largest city was “…the initial response to the occupation crimes against our people in Jenin camp.”
Hamas has urgently called for “decisive action” from the Palestinian Authority, including “severing ties with the leaders of the occupation, ending security coordination, and terminating all signed agreements,” elaborated Al Jazeera.
In an attempt to bring to light the overall scale of the atrocities committed by the Zionist State over just the past two days, the statement by Hamas reads, “The ongoing aggression in Jenin for the second consecutive day, coupled with the deliberate targeting of civilians, amounts to ‘undeniable war crimes’ committed by the occupation army and its fascist government.”
Turkey and Jordan have also condemned the attacks, while Morocco earlier postponed the Negev Summit indefinitely because of concerns relating to Israeli aggression.
There is no end in sight to the Apartheid State’s determination to snuff out both the dignity and very physical existence of as many Arab Palestinians as humanly possible, possibly best epitomized by Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s recent quote appearing in Walla News:
“In this government, we have killed 120 Palestinians in the past six months, and there will be more in the future, and there is a need for more, and the public wants more from us and we are capable of that.”
Of course, the outrageous complacency of most major world powers as Israel rampages on–especially that of the United States and Britain, the latter of which has introduced anti-boycott legislation–has obviously provided a literal blank check to Israeli conduct.
“I think we will continue to see–as has happened in the past–the U.S. administration run cover for the Israelis and let them get away with doing whatever they want,” Daniel Levy, president of the U.S./Middle East Project think tank, expressed to Al Jazeera.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces have launched tear gas outside a Jenin public hospital, where hundreds of those emanating from the camp’s most vulnerable demographics have taken to treatment and shelter.
Israel has made it clear that there remain three options available to Palestinians: 1) leave; 2) remain as residents but accept citizen-less status; or 3) resist but accept certain death.
Israel is now allegedly close to finalizing its Jenin operation, a senior aide to Prime Minister Netanyahu has said.