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 | OHCHR
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk made the following remarks to the Human Rights Council annual panel on adverse impacts of climate change.
1
1
2
Edited News | WHO
The first meagre midweek delivery of urgently needed medical goods to enter Gaza in months will provide scant relief to the enclave’s people, who continue to be shot and killed as they search for food, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.
2
1
2
Statements , Edited News | HRC
Enhanced interactive dialogue on the High Commissioner’s report on Myanmar presented by Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and oral update by Thomas Andrews, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar
1
1
1
Edited News | UNOG
The conflict-impacted people of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) urgently need much more international assistance than they are getting today, the UN’s top aid official said on Thursday.
1
1
2
Edited News | UNOG
Violence in Myanmar is spiralling as the military junta increases its attacks on monasteries, schools and camps sheltering people uprooted by the civil war, a top independent human rights investigator warned on Wednesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan on Palestinians killed seeking food in Gaza
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
Iran-Israel war: UN rights office concerned over strike on Tehran prison, reported espionage arrests
Tehran’s notorious Evin prison known for holding dissidents should not be a target, the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) said on Tuesday, a day after a reported Israeli strike on the complex.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF , WHO
Death and suffering in Gaza are ever-present and the enclave's people now have little choice but to risk their lives to fetch aid supplies, UN agencies said on Friday. “I met a little boy who was wounded by a tank shell at one of these sites on the final day of me leaving Gaza - I learnt that this little boy had since died of those injuries,” said UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) spokesperson James Elder. “That speaks to both what is happening at these sites and what is not happening when it comes to medical evacuations.”
1
1
1
Edited News | UNCTAD
UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) launched today the World Investment Report 2025. Global foreign direct investment (FDI) fell by 11%, marking the second consecutive year of decline and confirming a deepening slowdown in productive capital flows, according to the report.
1
1
1
Edited News
Afghan journalist Zahra Nader fled twice due to Taliban rule, highlighting severe women's rights issues.
1
1
1
Edited News
Gazan photojournalist Motaz Azaiza documents war's impact, gaining global attention but facing personal peril.
1
1
1
Edited News | HRC
As the Iran-Israel crisis continued into a sixth day, the UN deputy human rights chief Nada Al-Nashif called for urgent talks to end the continuing exchanges of missile attacks between Tehran and Tel-Aviv.