The morning of Tuesday, May 12 was supposed to be a normal day in the city of Jenin in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The city came to life after a night of calm that was not disrupted by Israeli raids or assassinations.
Employees went to work, students, teachers and professors headed to their schools and universities and stores were open for the day. However, the next minutes would become another bloody chapter in the sad city’s history.
No one who made their way through the streets of Jenin that morning knew that zero hour for an Israeli military operation had arrived. No one knew that the next few minutes would turn the streets and buildings into a warzone.
An Israeli special forces unit had infiltrated the city in a car carrying a Palestinian license plate. Emerging from the car were snipers who took position on the roofs of several buildings ahead of the operation.
A little after 8:00 am, the special unit and the snipers began opening fire at “anything that moved”, recalled an eyewitness. Seven people were killed immediately, including two students, a teacher and a surgeon.
Mahmoud
One of the students was 15-year-old Mahmoud Hamadna, who had left home with his twin brother to head to school near the Jenin camp. He had end of year exams that day. His father recalled to Asharq Al-Awsat that he immediately contacted his son as soon as he heard warning sirens ring in the camp. Mahmoud answered that he had safely arrived at school.
“I was relieved that they were well,” added the father. However, the sudden Israeli operation sparked confusion throughout the city. Unbeknownst to the father, the school authorities had asked the faculty, staff and students to return home because they feared an escalation, similar to what had happened in the past.
With a heavy heart, the father recalled the moment the brother returned home alone without Mahmoud. “I tried to contact him, but he didn’t answer his phone. I called him over 15 times with no answer,” he said. Meanwhile, Mahmoud had been making his way home on his bicycle. As soon as he left the school premises, he was shot by a sniper five times in the chest and head.
Still calling his phone, a person finally answered the father, and he was informed that Mahmoud had been taken to hospital. “I lost my mind when I found out that he was wounded,” said the father. He headed to hospital with the mother. It was dangerous journey with snipers shooting at their car.
“I arrived at the hospital thinking my son was injured, but I found out that he had been martyred. I didn't make it on time. He was dead,” added the father.
Long operation
As the sirens wailed, members of the Palestinian military brigades took their positions in the streets and fierce battles ensued with the Israeli forces. In the meantime, Israeli military vehicles advanced in the city, accompanied by bulldozers and drones flying overhead. The Israeli military spokesman announced that an expanded military operation was underway in Jenin to eliminate Palestinian fighters. Over a thousand soldiers were deployed. They occupied several homes and buildings and imposed a tight siege on the camp.
Fighting and explosions
A team from Asharq Al-Awsat had been on the outskirts of Jenin on an unrelated task to observe the situation in the city as the war on Gaza raged on. Its arrival in Jenin coincided with the launch of the operation.
The sound of bullet fire and successive explosions filled the streets. Black smoke billowed over the city, while drones hovered overhead. Shops were shut and people sought the safety of their homes. Streets and alleyways became warzones between the Palestinian fighters and Israeli forces.
The army had besieged the camp, or what it called the “hornets' nest”, barring anyone from leaving or entering. It cut off electricity and communication lines, isolating the city from the world.
The Israeli forces also barred the entry of ambulances and the evacuation of the wounded, even opening fire at them. Journalists were also prevented from entering.
The operation went on for 48 hours. Once the Israeli forces withdrew, the Asharq Al-Awsat team was able to enter Jenin and assess the damage and destruction. Jenin is home to 12,000 people. Houses and shops were riddled with bullets, while others were razed to the ground.
The Israeli army had escalated its operations against vital infrastructure in Jenin city and its camp. The infrastructure has become a target so that pressure would grow on the armed factions, explained the locals.
A leading member of the Fatah movement, Jamal Haweel told Asharq Al-Awsat that Israel was seeking to use the destruction to weaken the support the armed factions enjoy in Jenin.
In 2002, the Israeli forces raided Jenin camp, seeking to occupy it. The greatest battle since 1967 ensued Around 1,200 homes were destroyed and dozens of people were killed, he recalled. Israel is playing a psychological game and trying to turn the people against the factions.
“The people, however, are aware that the resistance brings them dignity and freedom despite the destruction caused by the enemy,” he stressed.
Mounting death toll
The Israeli army had intensified its operations in Jenin and the West Bank since the eruption of the war on Gaza on October 7. It has carried out over 70 raids, killing over 142 Palestinians in Jenin – the greatest death in the West Bank where 540 people have been killed and 5,200 injured. The Israeli military has also arrested over 8,000 Palestinians.
Negotiations over a ceasefire in Gaza have not included the West Bank, raising serious concerns among the Palestinians that the Israelis have more escalation in store for them. These fears have been compounded by hardline Israeli ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, who vowed to take the war on Gaza to the West Bank.
High accuracy
Asharq Al-Awsat spoke with fighters in Jenin as soon as Israel ended its 48-hour operation. One of their leaders remarked that this battle was different than others, saying the fighters showed “high tactics and accuracy”.
He revealed that the fighters were resorting now to ambushes and advanced explosive devices in combating the Israeli forces, sparking deep concern among Israeli military and security authorities. He added that not a single fighter was killed in the latest round of fighting. “The occupier failed in killing and wounding a single combatant,” he stated. This has forced Israel to change tactics and turn to special units and snipers and to use air cover during its raids.
Moreover, the fighter said the war in the camp is an extension to the war in Gaza. The confrontation with the Israeli army intensified after October 7, he added, revealing that some military units that had fought in Gaza were now fighting in Jenin.
