Death Toll Rises in the West Bank

Jess Diez
Managing Editor & Research Associate, Middle East Policy Council

October 12, 2022

On Saturday, October 8, Israeli forces killed two Palestinian teenagers and injured 11 during a military raid on a refugee camp in the West Bank city of Jenin, a recent forefront of growing tension. This incident occurred just hours after Israeli forces killed two minors in a separate incident near the towns of Ramallah and Qalqilya. While Israel works to maintain its national security through counterterrorism efforts and corresponding arrests, this growing violence has enhanced concerns among Palestinians and the international community. 

Last weekend’s violence brought the annual death toll to more than 120 Palestinians, marking the most fatalities since 2015. According to the Middle East Eye, “armoured vehicles, bulldozers, military helicopters and combat drones were reportedly deployed in the raid. Palestinian fighters responded with live fire, while unarmed residents also confronted Israeli soldiers with rocks.”

Al Jazeera journalist Nida Ibrahim highlighted growing points of concern, specifically regarding Israel’s transitioning tactical approach in recent operation: “‘We’re also seeing Israel using aerial enforcement during raids,’ Ibrahim said, adding, ‘this is something we haven’t seen since the second Palestinian Intifada’ in early 2000. ‘It is the deadliest year in the occupied West Bank for more than seven years.’”

Apart from the unprecedented aerial enforcement, Israeli troops did not move cautiously around journalists during the raid, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa. Wafa expressed that the “usual Journalists and ambulances are also being denied access into the area of the Israeli attack in the camp, with Israeli military helicopters flying at low altitudes over the camp and neighboring areas. Israeli occupation forces also directly fired live shots at a group of journalists covering the attack.”

The Palestinian Ministry of Health reported the logistics of Saturday’s attack on the refugee camp and the impact it had on the surrounding community. Written in the Palestine Chronicle, “palestinian security sources said an undercover Israeli force sneaked into the camp in the early morning hours of Saturday, followed by dozens of Israeli military vehicles, which stormed the camp from multiple directions, sparking confrontations with local residents. The confrontations are ongoing.”

Palestinians are loudly condemning Israel’s actions and identifying the conflict as ‘an all-out war.’ The spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, vocalized on Saturday the need to defend Palestinian land amid this growing violence. Written in Haaretz, Rudeineh stated that “the Israeli occupation government is delusional when it believes that the killing of dozens of our people, the injury of hundreds, the destruction of dozens of homes and the continuation of army protected settler attacks will bring security and stability…It must be aware that our steadfast people will remain committed to their rights and national principles defending their land and sanctities at all costs.’”

Israel, however, asserts that the troops were entering the refugee camp in response to terrorist activity before the arrest attempt turned sour. In a further statement, Haaretz expressed that the Israeli “troops carried out an operation to arrest a 25-year-old in Jenin who is wanted for terror activity. He was successfully captured… though during the operation, forces came under attack by Palestinian fire and Molotov cocktails.”

This increase in fatalities invoked global reactions, such as a statement from UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland. Cited in the Middle East Monitor: “the escalation of violence in the occupied West Bank is fuelling a climate of fear, hatred and anger. It is necessary to reduce tensions immediately, to open space for decisive initiatives aimed at creating a viable political horizon.”