A European Union envoy on Saturday criticized Israel for the “proportionality” of the force it had used in its latest military operation in Jenin, and accused Jerusalem of violating international law when it sent envoys after this week’s raid on the refugee camp in Jenin West Bank visited.
His comments echoed those of UN chief Antonio Guterres, who told reporters on Thursday that “Israeli forces have used excessive force in their 48-hour operation, the largest Israel has conducted on Palestinian territory in years.” “.
These included airstrikes and armored bulldozers destroying roads. Twelve Palestinians were killed, although Israel has claimed all were combatants. Most have been claimed by terrorist groups. Some of the dozens injured were non-combatants, the IDF said. An Israeli soldier was killed.
Jenin is a focus for the activities of several Palestinian terrorist groups, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described the refugee camp as a “terrorist nest”.
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European Union representative to the Palestinian Territories, Sven Kühn von Burgsdorff, made the comments as he led a delegation of UN officials and diplomats from 25 countries to the camp in the northern West Bank.
“We are concerned about the use of weapons and weapon systems that question the proportionality of the military during the deployment,” said Kuehn von Burgsdorff about the deployment.
Members of an international delegation walk on a ruined road during a tour of Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank, July 8, 2023. (Zain Jaafar/AFP)
Burgsdorff told reporters the “painful” crackdown violated international law and called on Israel to end the conflict.
“This cycle of violence must end, it cannot continue. “If there is no political solution to the conflict, in a week, in a month, in a year we will be here without anything having changed,” he added.
As the delegation toured the camp, residents peered out of holes left in the walls by Israeli missiles, and local authorities tested a new camp-wide alarm system to warn of future raids.
Tensions between Israelis and Palestinians have been high across the West Bank for the past year and a half, as the military conducted raids almost every night and a series of deadly Palestinian terrorist attacks.
Since the beginning of this year, 25 people have been killed in Palestinian attacks in Israel and the West Bank.
According to a Times of Israel tally, 148 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank during that period – most of them in clashes with security forces or in attacks, but some were innocent civilians and others were killed under unclear circumstances.
A convoy of army vehicles is seen during a military raid on Jenin refugee camp, a stronghold of militants, in the West Bank July 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
UN plea for funds
The Jenin camp has been the scene of several large-scale raids by the Israeli military this year, but this week it was the largest such operation in the West Bank since the Second Intifada in the early 2000s.
The infrastructure of the camp was severely damaged during the raid. Israel said the crackdown was aimed at terrorists who have been carrying out repeated attacks across the West Bank in recent months.
According to the United Nations, eight kilometers (five miles) of water mains and three kilometers (two miles) of sewage pipes were destroyed. More than 100 homes were damaged and several schools also sustained minor damage.
The refugee camp is one of the poorest and most densely populated in the West Bank. About 18,000 people live in just 0.43 square kilometers.
UN officials on Saturday asked for funds to rebuild the camp.
“To restore services and expand support for the children, we need cash…our appeal is grossly underfunded,” said Leni Stenseth, deputy commissioner-general of the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees.
“I urge you to announce as soon as possible your support for the work we will be doing here in Jenin camp over the coming weeks and months,” she added.
On Thursday, Algeria announced $30 million to help “rebuild the Palestinian city of Jenin after Israel’s barbaric and criminal attack,” and the United Arab Emirates, which had normalized ties with Israel in 2020, said on Wednesday they would “provide $15 million.”