By Harun Nasrullah

London, (The Muslim New): Israel’s military raids in the occupied West Bank targeting the Jenin Refugee Camp “may prima facie constitute a war crime,” ruled UN Palestinian rights experts on Wednesday.

The expert panel, comprised of Francesca Albanese, Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Palestinian Territory; Paula Gaviria Betancur, Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons; and Reem Alsalem, Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls, stated in a statement issued on Wednesday that “Israeli forces’ operations in the occupied West Bank, killing and seriously injuring the occupied population, destroying their homes and infrastructure, and arbitrarily displacing thousands, amount to egregious violations of international law and standards on the use of force and may constitute a war crime.”

The statement noted that Israeli forces killed at least 12 Palestinians, including five children, and injured more than 100 Palestinians on Monday and Tuesday, calling the strikes “one of Israel’s biggest military operations in the occupied West Bank in years.”

It said that the attacks damaged infrastructure, houses, and apartment buildings, forcing 4,000 Palestinians to flee.

“The attacks were the fiercest in the West Bank since the destruction of the Jenin camp in 2002,” the experts said.

“It is heartbreaking  to see thousands of Palestinian refugees, originally displaced since 1947–1949, forced to march out of the camp in abject fear at the dead of night,” they added.

The statement condemned Israeli forces’ so-called “counterterrorism” actions as having “no legal justification under international law” and expressed “grave concern” about military weaponry and tactics deployed by Israel’s occupation forces at least twice over the last two weeks against Jenin’s population.

Israel’s military raids in occupied West Bank targeting Jenin Refugee Camp “may prima facie constitute a war crime,” ruled UN Palestinian rights experts. ts

“The Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territory are protected persons under international law and guaranteed all human rights, including the presumption of innocence,” it said.

“They cannot be treated as a collective security threat by the occupying Power, all the more while it advances the annexation of occupied Palestinian land and the displacement and dispossession of its Palestinian residents,” the statement said.

It said that Israel’s raids in Jenin were “amplifications of the structural violence that has permeated the occupied Palestinian territory for decades.”

“The impunity that Israel has enjoyed for its acts of violence over decades only fuels and intensifies the recurring cycle of violence,” the statement said.

The UN experts demanded that Israel be held legally accountable for its “illegal occupation and violent acts to perpetuate it.”

“For this relentless violence to end, Israel’s illegal occupation must end. It cannot be corrected or improved in the margins because it is wrong to the core,” they said.

The Israeli offensive came amid rising tensions across the occupied West Bank in recent months amid repeated Israeli raids into Palestinian towns.

Nearly 190 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since the start of this year, according to the Health Ministry. At least 25 Israelis have also been killed in separate attacks during the same period.

Estimates indicate that around 700,000 Israeli settlers are living in 164 settlements and 116 outposts in the occupied West Bank.

Under international law, all Jewish settlements in the occupied territories are considered illegal.

As the Israeli army retreated from Jenin early Wednesday, ending the city’s heaviest military operation in more than 20 years, Palestinian residents emerged from their homes to find piles of rubble.

“They destroyed everything,” Umm Mohamed, told Anadolu.

“Israeli soldiers raided the city at night and forced us out of our homes,” she said. “But when we came back in the morning, we could not recognise our houses.”

The Israeli raid also left a vast destruction trail over the West Bank city, destroying hundreds of homes, vehicles, stores, and electricity cables.

“The Jenin refugee camp was destroyed as if an earthquake had struck the area… Everything is in ruins,” said Umm Akram, who along with many other residents had to flee the area following the Israeli military raid.

She adds, “The scene in the camp is a reminder of 2002 when the camp suffered massive destruction in the Israeli offensive.”

Jamil Talib said his house was turned into a barracks by Israeli forces.

“My car was crushed by Israeli bulldozers, and my house was seized and turned into a barracks by Israeli soldiers,” the 42-year-old said.

He said Palestinian homes in the camp were raided by Israeli forces one by one.

“Israeli snipers used my house as a military post,” he recalled.

Aliye al-Bali, 55, said “Israeli soldiers even stole my gold jewellery.”

Several countries, including Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, Indonesia, Pakistan, and others, condemned the Israeli offensive.

[Photo: A woman stands inside her destroyed house caused by the Israeli forces attacks in Jenin, West Bank on July 4, 2023. Photojournalist :Issam Rimawi/AA]