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Israel Takes War on Gaza to West Bank Camps

Jenin residents are seen during the funeral of a person who was killed during the Israeli military operation in Mat. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Jenin residents are seen during the funeral of a person who was killed during the Israeli military operation in Mat. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Israel Takes War on Gaza to West Bank Camps

Jenin residents are seen during the funeral of a person who was killed during the Israeli military operation in Mat. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Jenin residents are seen during the funeral of a person who was killed during the Israeli military operation in Mat. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

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.

Damaged houses are seen in Jenin camp following the Israeli operation in May. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

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

An Israeli patrol roams the streets of Jenin in May. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

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.

A masked Palestinian is seen in Jenin city during the Israeli operation in May. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

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.

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The Final Voyage of the Infamous ‘Salt’ Ship

The RAPTOR as it sails to Istanbul. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The RAPTOR as it sails to Istanbul. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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The Final Voyage of the Infamous ‘Salt’ Ship

The RAPTOR as it sails to Istanbul. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The RAPTOR as it sails to Istanbul. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

On October 15, 2023, a rundown ship docked at Abu Qir Port in Alexandria, Egypt. The ship had sailed in from Romania and sent for repairs. At that moment also, Ahmed Issam Barakat, 27, Mohammed Daadour, 33, and eight others arrived from Ezbat Al Borg city in northern Egypt to work on the ship.

Barakat had worked as an oiler in Ezbat Al Borg where the majority of the population works in fishing and aboard ships. He chose to work at sea, obtained a seafarer passport in August and took up a job as an assistant mechanic on the newly docked ship. That was his first job at sea.

Daadour was not enticed by the sea like Barakat. He had graduated with a degree in media from Mansoura University. After becoming a father and the head of a family, he decided to turn to work at sea to earn a better living.

In the summer of 2023, Barakat and Daadour applied for work at a marine shipping company in Damietta city and they were hired to work for the RAPTOR in October. The men didn’t know at the time that the ship had just returned from a suspicious voyage in the Black Sea. It never occurred to them that they would become new victims of rundown ships that operate the black market.

At the repair yard, the crew worked day and night for 35 days to cover and paint over the flaws of the ship, such as holes and rust. Photos sent to relatives of the crew showed just how rundown the ship was.

Daadour telephoned his wife, telling her about the “big holes” in the ship, she told Asharq Al-Awsat. One crew member even tried to quit because he was afraid that the ship would sink once it sails.

On the day the ship was to be loaded with its cargo and salt, Daadour and his colleagues were surprised to learn that they were getting the day off and that new workers were being brought in to do this specific job.

At 1 am on November 22, the ship set sail from Alexandria to Istanbul, but under a new name: ROVANA.

Egyptian maritime lawyer Ahmed Kamel suspected that the name change was because the owners were aware that the RAPTOR had a poor reputation, had previously been blacklisted and subject to inspections dozens of times at various ports. The owners believed that the name change would make international sailing easy and “legal”.

Conflicting information has emerged over the weight of the cargo. Official declared figures showed it was carrying around 4,000 tons of cargo and 294 tons of salt. Other documents showed that it was in fact carrying 6,400 tons with the additional 2,000 never having been declared. It was also carrying liquid salt that was improperly stored.

Moreover, the crew was told that the ROVANA was headed to Istanbul, when in fact, it was sailing to Ukraine via Libya.

Daarour, Barakat and seven others, who made up the 14-member crew, had never worked on a shipping vessel before. The captain was Egyptian Rashad Hafez, who had over 20 years of experience working on shipping vessels. The rest of the crew consisted of a marine engineer from India and two sailors from Syria.

Captain Waled Jomaa, a friend of Hafez, said hiring nine crew members with no sea experience was a bad omen that the already rundown ship was going to be in trouble if it encountered any problems at sea.

Barakat said the flaws in the ship became more apparent after the salt was loaded onto it. Water started to seep in from the right side and it began to slant in that direction. He revealed that the crew had to dump the water out of the ship throughout the journey. That was only the beginning of their troubles.

The business of rundown ships

The 39-year-old RAPTOR sailed under the Comoros flag. Responsibility for a ship lies on the country whose flag it is flying, not the port from which it sailed. So, some rundown ships suffering from technical problems or embarking on a suspicious journey often resort to raising the Comoros flag because the country is lax in applying marine safety regulations.

Ownership of the RAPTOR was transferred from a Turkish to a Lebanese shipping company in 2019.

The continuous synopsis record (CSR) showed that the Lebanese company became the commercial manager of the ship. Ownership was transferred to an Egyptian company Equasis. The Lebanese company told Asharq Al-Awsat that it was in no way tied to the ownership of the RAPTOR.

From 2018 and until its final voyage in 2023, the RAPTOR racked up 205 grave violations at several ports and was blacklisted by international marine authorities since 2022. It was held for 279 days at Bulgaria’s Burgas port in 2018 over 29 grave violations.

How could such a ship continue to be allowed to sail? Just two months before its final journey, it added 65 violations to its record in Romania.

The key here lies in the change of ownership. During the time it was held in Burgas, the ownership was changed from the Turkish to the Lebanese company in May 2019.

The market of rundown ships is very active in Türkiye and Syria. Owners of these ships get rid of them on the black market and sell them at very low prices. They are then bought by shipping companies that make light repairs and maintenance as the cost of full repairs would start at at least 100,000 dollars.

Daadour, Barakat and the other rookie seafarers were unaware of these details, all they wanted was to earn a living and improve the lives of their families. The owner company even refused to disclose the ownership details of the ship. Daadour managed to secretly photograph them and send the documents to his wife. They confirm that the RAPTOR was owned by the Egyptian company.

Inquiries by Asharq Al-Awsat to the company were unanswered. A captain who has very close ties to the company revealed to Asharq Al-Awsat documents that prove that it owned the RAPTOR. But the ship was named the ROVANA, meaning the operating contracts were tied to a ship that no longer exists.

When the then-RAPTOR was still in Romania, its Egyptian captain at the time was Ahmed al-Dally. He told Asharq Al-Awsat that he discovered major flaws in the vessel.

“I exerted major efforts for the ship to be released from Romania to Egypt. I quit my job as soon as I arrived. The ship that had just docked in Alexandria was rundown and had three big holes. It should have never sailed again,” he said. “The inspection in Romania revealed catastrophic flaws.”

The RAPTOR was guilty of another grave violation: manipulating fuel records. It is repeat offender, with such offenses going back to 2018. The discovery forced the International Association of Classification Societies to impound the ship because it was not seaworthy.

The manipulation of fuel records is a red flag in any shipping vessel, because it means the ship is consuming more fuel than the number of miles it is declaring, meaning it is making undeclared journeys with this extra fuel.

Veson Nautica, which works on developing, implementing, and supporting maritime commerce solutions, revealed that since the eruption of the conflict in Ukraine in 2022, the RAPTOR had made repeated voyages from Libya to Ukraine. Between 2022 and November 2023, the ship didn’t make a single journey outside the Mediterranean, except to head to Ukraine.

During these journeys, the RAPTOR would turn off its radar as it entered a specific zone between Lebanon and Cyprus. It would turn it back on again after exiting that zone. The Automatic Identification System (AIS) is a short-range coastal tracking system used on ships. Ships are prohibited from ever turning it off while at sea.

Captain Jomaa said shutting off the AIS allows coastguards in any country the right to follow the ship and search it. These ships are often accused of smuggling.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat on condition of anonymity, a former officer in the Greek coastguard said regular shipping journeys are carried out between Libya and Ukraine, raising questions that they may be smuggling weapons and fuel.

Final journey

Back on the RAPTOR, the journey was going well for Daarour. He would update his wife about the trip whenever he had an internet connection.

The journey took a turn for the worse when the ship entered Greek waters on November 24, 2023. A storm was forecast for the next day and until the 26th. Despite the warning, the captain sailed on, and the ship started to take on more water.

Daarour said the ship lacked any equipment that would help the crew in case it sank. There even weren’t enough lifejackets. The crew worked on dumping the water out, but sinking was inevitable.

Daarour sent a message to his wife that the ship was flooding. The captain issued a distress call to the Greek coastguard and was awaiting a response. On deck, Barakat was working tirelessly to dump water off the ship to the extent that he became nauseous.

Daarour sent his wife a photo of a Greek island just off the ship. He reassured her that the crew would swim towards it.

Daarour’s messages to his wife revealed that the owner of the ship had contacted the captain that night to angrily rebuke him for contacting the coastguard. The owner said the ship mustn't reply to the coastguard, that it must turn off its radar and change course immediately towards Turkish waters.

The captain complied and started sailing away from Greek shores until the ship reached four nautical miles off Greece’s Lesbos island that is located near the border with Türkiye. The ship then turned off its radar as the crew continued its fight to survive.

Barakat recalled that by that point the ship was tilting sharply to the right. Greece that night announced that the area was witnessing strong winds and waves as high as five meters.

Aya, Daarour’s wife, said her husband was the only person on board who had a Greek phone number and internet. He concealed this information from the captain and ship owner who had strict instructions that there could be no contact with anyone outside the ship. This was obviously an attempt to conceal the ship’s course.

Aya said her husband revealed his phone when the ship started to sink that night. He gave it to the crew so that they could bid farewell to their families.

At 6:15 in the morning of November 26, the RAPTOR appeared on radar some 4.5 miles off Lesbos. Having lost hope, the captain reopened communications lines and sent a distress call to the Greek coastguard at 7:20 am.

Daadour was making his final calls on the phone before the sinking. He called his mother to tell her “I am drowning with everyone on board this ship.”

On the other side of the ship, Barakat was the only member of the crew left without a lifejacket as there weren’t enough. He flung himself in the sea and clung onto a wooden barrel.

Despite the short distance to shore, the coastguard wouldn’t locate them until around two hours after the distress call. A helicopter arrived to take Barakat to Mitilini Hospital in Greece. When he regained consciousness, he thought he was the last of the crew to arrive, believing that the lifejackets would have saved them.

Turns out he was the sole survivor.

The entire crew perished and the ship with its cargo was lost in the Aegean. Forty-eight hours after the sinking, Greece announced that there were no survivors except Barakat. The search was officially called off after three days.