Standing outside her home in the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, Saja Bawakneh found herself in a familiar spot — the same one where her father had been shot dead by Israeli forces a few years before.
This time, she was waiting for an Israeli army officer to signal that it was time to start walking to the city’s main hospital after she was evacuated from her home, by Israeli troops – backed by helicopters and drones – five days later. A 10-day invasion began in Jenin.
It was 1 am and she was with her 60-year-old mother, her two sisters, her pregnant sister-in-law and her young niece and nephew.
They had nothing but the clothes on their backs, apart from a small bag with the children’s essentials.
This is not the first time the Bawakaneh family home has been raided, nor is it the first time the camp has been attacked. But this latest offensive, which began about a week ago and lasted until Israeli forces withdrew on Friday, was the most intense yet; Known as “Earthquake” by the residents of the city.
At least 34 Palestinians have been killed during this latest operation, which also targeted Tulkarem and other areas in the northern West Bank, in conjunction with Israel’s ongoing offensive on the Gaza Strip.
Israeli army bulldozers have demolished large parts of Jenin, which has been under siege for more than a week, demolishing entire streets and structures. Even though there are soldiers of the Israeli army since then retracted Residents fear that the soldiers will return after temporarily moving to nearby military posts.
“Normally it takes us 10 minutes to reach the hospital on foot, but because we were walking slowly, with our hands in the air, and the streets were damaged – it took us a long time,” Bawakneh, 29, told Al Jazeera.
Besieged, then displaced
Bawkaneh and his family had six other members Hiding in his kitchen Since the invasion began on 28 August. It was the safest place in their four-story house in the heart of the Jenin refugee camp, away from the large windows and Israeli snipers stationed outside.
Unable to leave, they were rationing food, water and medicine while trapped in their homes.
Five days after the raid, a group of Israeli army soldiers moved in after spending an hour firing live bullets into the house and its surroundings.
“During the gunfire, we crowded into a corner of our kitchen, stacked on top of each other,” Bawakneh said, describing the gunfire as “loud and overwhelming.”
“We could hear the sounds of explosions and people screaming,” she said.
They were all tense, trying to picture and prepare for every possible scenario that would follow this entry into the house.
“We made sure the kids were dressed and had their shoes on. We told them we were going to leave because we expected them to enter at any moment,” Bawakneh said.
“They were scared and held us tightly. His legs were shaking so much that he could not walk,” she said.
When they arrived at the house around 10 p.m., they “arrived in incredible numbers, and began searching every room with dogs”, Bawkaneh recalled.
“They came with enough water and food for the last days,” she said, adding that it was clear they were going to use the house as a “military base”.
After about three hours, they were confronted by an Israeli army officer who ordered them to leave. Bawakneh refused, saying it was too unsafe for children because the streets were deserted and without power.
“He told us, ‘We are going to lock you in a room’. And that’s exactly what they did after confiscating our phones,” Bawkaneh recalled.
Sitting in a room adjacent to the main hall of the house, all the women were wondering how long they would stay locked up.
After about 45 minutes, another soldier opened the door and asked the family to leave.
“I asked again if they could guarantee our safety walking alone, in the dark, and the officer said yes. So of course, we had no choice,” she said.
“We left, and they didn’t let us take a single thing with us. We had no food, water, clothes, money.
Upon arriving at the Jenin Government Hospital, Bawakneh quickly realized that his situation was similar to many other families who were also forced to leave their homes and ended up in the hospital.
The power cuts and lack of internet access meant there was no way to know what was happening and it was difficult to keep up with what was happening in the camp and the eastern part of the city of Jenin.
A city ‘destroyed’
According to Bawakaneh, the “terrified” families she encountered at the hospital also fled “with nothing, not even a penny in their pockets”.
“Those who arrived before us were sleeping upstairs in the maternity ward,” Bawakneh said.
She said it was “rare to see an entire family together”, as many youths and children – especially young men who are victims of abuse and arrest by Israeli soldiers – fled the camp to nearby areas when the operation began.
As the sun rose, people started arriving in large numbers and families were “filling the courtyard” of the hospital, Bawakneh said.
Rights groups, including Amnesty International, have warned that with this onslaught, forced displacement is inevitable.
Amnesty also noted that there has been an “appalling spike” in lethal force by Israeli forces against Palestinians in the West Bank.
The head of Jenin’s municipality, Nidal al-Obaidi, agreed.
“Raids and incursions have been happening for many years, but after October 7 they have increased in frequency and intensity – and so with each incursion comes destruction,” al-Obaidi told Al Jazeera.
He described the latest offensive as an “earthquake” that has shaken Jenin and its refugee camp.
“We are seeing army bulldozers clearing city streets, destroying infrastructure, water pipes and sewage systems. We are seeing that there is shooting towards phones and electricity lines,” Al-Obaidi said.
“We are seeing the destruction of public facilities including schools, playgrounds and businesses. And of course the destruction of many, many homes – either completely or partially,” he added.
Al-Obaidi said about 70 percent of Jenin had been “destroyed.”
According to him, families living in around 120 houses have been forced to flee. Many houses have been partially or completely destroyed.
Bawkaneh’s house is one of them. After returning to his family’s home on Friday to investigate, Bawakneh said Israeli army soldiers had “turned the house upside down” after ransacking it beyond recognition.
The main door is broken, the windows of the house are broken, the furniture including the bed is also broken. Israeli soldiers painted pictures of Bawakneh’s slain father on the walls.
“Every corner of the house has been littered. Our kitchen appliances have been used and abused. It will take weeks to make the place habitable again,” she said.
Some families’ homes have suffered worse. Al-Obaidi said “dozens of houses have collapsed”.
More than 100 shops and businesses were destroyed, particularly in Jenin’s commercial square.
A video verified by Al Jazeera’s fact-checking agency, Sanad, shows Israeli army bulldozers destroying local businesses and residential houses in Jenin.
Al-Obaidi said the municipality is working to repair some water pipes and power lines in some areas, especially near the hospital.
But, it has been “extremely challenging with the heavy presence of Israeli forces, who personally fired at my car and at electricity trucks”, al-Obaidi said.
Unable to leave
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said its teams were also facing difficulties in responding to people trapped in Jenin and its refugee camp as Israeli forces blocked their movement. Many people were running low on food, water, baby formula and other essentials.
Local journalist Iman Silavi told Al Jazeera that Israeli soldiers have surrounded the commercial square in the center of the camp and declared it a “closed military zone”.
Local journalists told Al Jazeera that only a fraction of the camp’s 12,000 residents had escaped since the operation began. Those who fled went to the outskirts of the city or to areas of the camp where the fighting was concentrated.
While dozens of people in the eastern part of the camp, including the main Ad-Damaj neighborhood, have been forced out by Israeli soldiers, “thousands of other families remain in the camp”, Silavi said.
This is because they either could not get out safely, or did not have the means to do so, she said.
‘We are losing hope’
Israeli attacks on Jenin are hardly new.
Jenin has been a focal point for Israeli military offensives, several times since then Second Intifada which broke out in the year 2000.
During these attacks, Israeli forces often destroy entire neighborhoods, claiming they are harboring Palestinian fighters.
Even without these infiltrations, the situation in the camp remains dire, aid workers say. Unemployment rates are high and poverty is rampant, according to the United Nations.
Despite the many challenges ahead, al-Obaidi said the residents of Jenin have always been “firm” against Israel’s “aggression”.
Like many others, Bawakneh said she hopes her family will return to their home once it is resettled. It was used as a “base” by Israeli soldiers when they left, she said, adding that she was shocked, but not surprised, by the extent of “deliberate damage” to their homes and belongings.
“We are very tired,” she said. The family, now taking refuge in a temporary home outside Jenin, must once again repair the extensive damage and pay from their own savings to do so.
“The extent of the destruction, the loss and the fear of the unknown worries me the most,” she said. “We are losing hope of resuming anything resembling a normal life because the camp is not getting any kind of support.”
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