WE condemn the recent air raids and ongoing massacre of Palestinians by the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) in their unwarranted attack on the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied territory of the West Bank.
Israeli forces attacked the refugee camp in air and ground operations that included the firing of missiles. Dozens were injured in the bombardment. We cannot forget the Battle of Jenin which took place in the refugee camp in the West Bank on April 1–11, 2002.
The IOF entered the camp, and other areas under the administration of the Palestinian authority, during the second intifada, as part of a so-called Operation Defensive Shield. More than 50 Palestinians were killed and hundreds of houses were destroyed.
This latest assault, coupled with air raids, is a repetition of IOF's mass killings of Palestinians. This is another mass murder that has turned a refugee camp into a killing field by the IOF. Al-Jazeera reported that at least seven Palestinians had been killed in the attack, according to residents and officials.
This is the first time that the IOF has launched an air raid on the West Bank under the pretext of gunning down Palestinian resistance fighters.
Al-Jazeera reported that some 150 armoured vehicles and about 1,000 soldiers from Israel's elite special forces and the military, as well as general intelligence, police and border police, were involved in the operation. According to media reports, the IOF had cordoned off Jenin and homes were ransacked by the rampaging Israeli forces.
Meanwhile, the Jewish settlers are now aggressively establishing new settlements in an ongoing campaign of land grabs.
The resistance by the Palestinians should not be viewed as acts of violence. Their act of self-defence is legitimate as the aggressor is Israel. The ongoing Israeli offensive targets a defenceless Palestinian refugee camp.
What else can the Palestinians do to protect themselves and their properties when Israeli settlers are given a free hand with the tacit support of the Israeli occupation forces who are out to exterminate the Palestinians. The Palestinian fighters have every right to resist and defend their land.
We demand for the United Nations to intervene immediately. Mere condemnation is not enough. The UN Security Council must convene promptly and call for a halt to the massacre in Jenin.
Entrance to the Jenin refugee camp must be reopened to allow humanitarian agencies to render help to the injured. The Sabra Shatilla incident in 1982 cannot be allowed to be repeated.
The defenceless refugees are now under siege and the likehood of more bloodshed is inevitable. We are now facing a genocidal act by the Zionist enemies and settlers.
The Israeli government will no doubt face retaliation from the Palestinian fighters. Israel's justification for the attack on the Jenin refugee camp, purportedly under the pretext that Palestinian fighters were using the camp as their hideout, is fake.
We see that the brutal assault on Jenin is nothing more than just the Jewish settlers and IOF's plan to decimate the Palestinians and increase the expansion of Jewish settlements.
The silence and inaction from the international community in this brazen aggression is incomprehensible. We are now counting bodies and maimed victims. The UN does not seem to put pressure on Israel to end its massacre of the Palestinians and ensure Israel is held accountable in the international court.
The world is witnessing countless acts of impunity by the IOF. We call on nations that stand in solidarity with the Palestinians to wait no more. We should strive to end the 75 years of Israeli occupation and to this end the international movement for a free Palestine must be effectively mobilised.
While the current barbaric invasion by the IOF must be halted, the rights and justice for a free Palestine are non-negotiable. A democratic Palestinian state is the only option.
Mohd Azmi Abdul Hamid
President MAPIM
