The UN humanitarian agency says thousands of people living in the Jenin refugee camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank still do not have reliable access to safe drinking water a week later The Israeli army carried out a deadly two-day raid on the camp. Israel defended the raid, arguing it was necessary to target Palestinian militant groups operating out of the refugee camp.
“Jenin refugee camp, home to around 23,600 people, including 7,150 children, still has no access to water, a week after the local water network was destroyed in a two-day operation carried out by Israeli forces,” according to a United Nations report. the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs announced on Tuesday. She estimated that access to water for 40% of Jenin camp residents was still cut off.
Last week’s operation, which killed at least 12 Palestinians and one Israeli soldier, also drove many Palestinians from their homes in Jenin and left a trail of damage and destruction in its wake, the report said.
The UN agency said at least 173 people, or about 40 families, were still displaced from their homes a week after the military operation.
The report said thousands more returned to homes made “uninhabitable” by the Israeli onslaught, which included armed drone strikes.
According to the OCHA report, approximately $5.2 million will be needed to meet immediate humanitarian needs in Jenin.
The operation was Israel’s largest in the West Bank in nearly two decades. The Israel Defense Forces struck the camp in an operation they said was aimed at destroying and confiscating the terrorists’ weapons.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas traveled to Jenin on Wednesday to survey the damage. His visit came just days after three of his top aides were forced to flee a funeral as they heckled furious crowds over the PA’s response to the Israeli onslaught, Reuters news agency reported.
Palestinian authorities have launched a ministerial committee to provide reconstruction assistance in the Jenin camp, and the UN said it was in contact with local officials to coordinate those efforts.
Violence between Israel and the Palestinians has escalated this year, with the West Bank set to experience its deadliest year since 2005, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.
Tensions have been mounting since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned to power last year, dragging with him the the most far-right government ever.
Netanyahu’s cabinet includes members of ultra-nationalist political parties that have long been relegated to the fringes of Israeli politics, including his new homeland security minister, who once chanted “death to Arabs” and was convicted of incitement to racism.
In addition to rising tensions with the Palestinians, the new Israeli government also had to deal with a Israeli backlash who believe that Netanyahu and his political allies are eroding democratic checks and balances in the country.
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