The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Jenin: Significant damage and loss of life after Israel’s military operation, says UNRWA
The latest escalation of violence at the Jenin refugee camp in the Occupied West Bank has resulted in the loss of life and significant damage to infrastructure, said Tamara Alrifai, Director of the Department of External Relations and Communications of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) on Friday.
“The Israeli military operation on the 4th and 5th of July in Jenin was the most intense in over two decades with 12 Palestinians killed, including four children and 140 injured, some in critical conditions,” said Ms. Alrifai when briefing journalists at the United Nations in Geneva.
Jenin is one of 19 camps for Palestine refugees across the West Bank, housing refugees who fled or were forced to leave their home in 1948. In the absence of a political solution, they have since then become “refugees”. Nearly 23,000 people live in Jenin’s densely populated camp.
“The Jenin camp for Palestine refugees sustained significant damage this week”, said UNRWA’s communication director. “The streets are full of rubble, electricity and water are cut in most parts of the camp. There are some 900 houses that have been damaged, some of them unlivable. My colleagues at UNRWA in Jenin are still assessing the scope of the damage today.”
Quoting her UNRWA colleagues working in the Jenin camp, Ms. Alrifai said that the cemetery "is full in such a densely populated camp, people don’t know what to do”.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated at a press briefing last night that “Israel’s airstrikes and ground operations in a crowded refugee camp were the worst violence in the West Bank in many years.”
He called on “Israel to abide by its obligations under international law, including the duty to exercise restraint and use only proportional force, and the duty to minimize damage and injury and respect and preserve human life. The use of airstrikes is inconsistent with the conduct of law enforcement operations.”
During the Israeli military operation, nearly 500 families left the camp to stay with family and friends.
UNRWA’s health centre, the only one in the camp, was severely damaged. The UN Agency for Palestine refugees has set up a temporary health point.
The priority for UNRWA is to restore basic services in the camp and support those families whose homes were damaged with emergency cash assistance and to re-open the four UNRWA schools which provide education for 1,700 children.
“The children in Jenin have undergone severe trauma as a result of the recent military operation and the violence”, said Ms. Alrifai. “Since the beginning of the year, they have witnessed horror, noting that the situation in the northern part of the West Bank in and around Jenin and Nablus has been extremely violent in 2023. So reopening schools is a top priority for UNRWA both for educational and psychological reasons.”
UNRWA is calling on donors to step in, especially as the Agency faces huge financial challenges made far worse by the recent crisis in Jenin.
-ends-
- Exterior medium shot: UN Palais with flags
- Wide shot: attendees and moderator at the press conference, screen with speakers
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Tamara Alrifai, Director of Department of External Relations and Communications, UNRWA: “The Israeli military operation on the 4th and 5th of July in Jenin was the most intense in over two decades with 12 Palestinians killed, including four children and 140 injured, some in critical conditions.”
- Medium shot: attendees at the press conference
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Tamara Alrifai, Director of Department of External Relations and Communications, UNRWA: “It’s a statement from my colleague reporting back to us, saying: ‘The cemetery is full. In such a densely populated camp, the cemetery is already full. People don’t know what to do’.”
- Medium shot: attendees at the press conference, screen with speaker in the background
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Tamara Alrifai, Director of Department of External Relations and Communications, UNRWA: “The Jenin camp for Palestine refugees sustained significant damage this week. The streets are full of rubble; electricity and water are cut in most parts of the camp. There are some 900 houses that have been damaged, some of them unlivable. My colleagues at UNRWA in Jenin are still assessing the scope of the damage today.”
- Medium shot: attendees at the press conference
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Tamara Alrifai, Director of Department of External Relations and Communications, UNRWA: “The children in Jenin have undergone severe trauma as a result of the recent military operation and the violence. Since the beginning of the year, they have witnessed horror, noting that the situation in the northern part of the West Bank in and around Jenin and Nablus has been extremely violent in 2023. So reopening schools is a top priority for UNRWA both for educational and psychological reasons.”
- Medium shot: attendees at the press conference, screen with speakers in the background
- Medium shot: attendees at the press conference
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | WFP , OCHA
UN urges opening of all Gaza crossings to deliver three-month food supply
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has warned food aid cannot reach everyone in Gaza unless all border crossings are opened, particularly in the north where famine was declared in August. The agency says it already has enough supplies in place to feed the entire population of the Strip for three months – if full access is granted by Israel.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNDP , UNICEF , OCHA , ICRC
Around $70 billion will be needed to reconstruct Gaza and make it safe after two years of war, UN development experts said on Tuesday, while aid agencies reported that far too little aid continues to reach desperate Palestinians.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
The UN human rights office, OHCHR, on Friday welcomed the Nobel Peace Prize committee’s decision to name Maria Machado as this year’s laureate, in recognition of her work promoting the Venezuelan people’s democratic hopes.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA , UNICEF , WHO
As Gazans jammed the main route leading north on Friday after a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas was announced, UN aid teams repeated their call to open all crossings into the devastated enclave to prevent famine spreading.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNICEF , WHO
Two years of Gaza-Israel war bring ‘indescribable’ pain: UN humanitarians
Two years since the Hamas-led terror attacks on Israel, UN humanitarians on Tuesday reiterated calls for the release of all hostages in Gaza, an immediate ceasefire and an aid surge to alleviate Palestinians’ suffering, as talks on a US-driven peace plan continued in Egypt.
1
1
1
Edited News
Syria prison survivor seeks justice for the missing with UN backing.
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Friday warned that three and a half years after Russia’s full-scale invasion, the war in Ukraine has entered an even more dangerous and deadly stage for Ukrainian civilians, under relentless bombardment of their schools, hospitals, and shelters.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF , WHO , ICRC
Quadcopter victims, terror and death: 30 minutes in a Gaza hospital
UN aid teams on Friday highlighted the disturbing situation in Gaza’s makeshift hospitals, where premature babies cry for scant oxygen and medics attempt to save child survivors targeted by airstrikes in their tents and quadcopter victims reportedly shot while fetching bread.
2
1
2
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Thursday delivered his oral update to the UN Human Rights Council’s 60th session on the human rights situation in Haiti.
The High Commissioner welcomed Wednesday’s decision of the UN Security Council to strengthen the Multinational Security Support mission by transitioning to the Gang Suppression Force for Haiti, stating it is a strong signal of international support for the Haitian people.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNICEF
Gaza: As world waits for US peace plan news, UN aid teams stress need for ceasefire
UN agencies reiterated calls for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza on Tuesday to help alleviate Palestinian suffering, as a new US 20-point plan raised hopes of a halt to the fighting.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
The ongoing Israeli military offensive in Gaza City continues to overwhelm the war-torn enclave’s medical professionals, with four more hospitals forced to shut down this month alone, the UN World Health Organization said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
A UN Human Rights report released today details the dire situation of thousands of civilians detained since Russia’s full-scale armed attack on Ukraine in 2022.