Thousands of Palestinians attend funeral for Jenin martyrs as Hamas, Islamic Jihad vow retaliation

Thousands of Palestinians have taken to the streets to participate in a funeral procession for nine people killed by Israeli troops in the Jenin refugee camp as the Palestinian resistance vows retaliation. 

The mourners carried the bodies of the nine martyrs on their shoulders, in front of Jenin Governmental Hospital, in a funeral procession that roamed the streets of the city.

According to eyewitnesses, the mourners raised Palestinian flags and chanted slogans condemning the Israeli violations.

Palestinian media outlets reported that Israeli occupation forces raided the Jenin camp early on Thursday, leaving residents and popular resistance groups with no choice but to defend themselves and confront the occupation forces.

The sources pointed out that more than 70 Israeli armed vehicles stormed the flashpoint city and the neighboring refugee camp, while Israeli snipers were also deployed on rooftops and heavily armed soldiers opened fire at Palestinian youths who tried to block their way.

Israeli forces kill nine Palestinians during violent raid on Jenin refugee camp

Israeli forces have shot dead at least nine Palestinians and injured several other during a deadly raid on the Jenin refugee camp in northern West Bank.

Israeli will pay a heavy price

Condemning the deadly crime, the deputy head of the political bureau of Hamas, Saleh al-Arouri, censured the Israeli massacre carried out against Palestinian civilians, and promised that Israel will pay a heavy price.

“The occupation will pay the price for the massacre it carried out in Jenin and its camp this morning, and the response of the resistance will not be delayed,” al-Arori assured in a statement.

 “The will of our nation is stronger than the crimes of the occupying regime. Jenin, the West Bank, and its residents will remain invincible, and these crimes will only increase the strength and determination of the people to fight,” he went on to say.

The Hamas official also warned the Israeli regime that such an extreme behavior of Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet and the intensification of attacks against Palestinians will inevitably lead the resistance front to launch a new “al-Quds sword battle” to defend its land and people.

Hamas and other resistance factions believe that Operation al-Quds Sword, which was launched in May 2021 in defense of Palestinians in occupied al-Quds, opened a new chapter in the fight against the occupying regime of Israel. 

It added that most of the injuries were in the head and chest, which means that the shooting of the people was intended to kill.

Israeli aggression will not stop resistance

For its part, the Islamic Jihad movement confirmed on Thursday that Jenin, its camps, its battalions, and its resistance fighters are the embodiment of the national will across Palestine and in the diaspora.

The secretary general of the Islamic Jihad movement, Ziyad Nakhala, said, "This aggression against the Palestinian people in Jenin and the valiant West Bank will not stop the resistance, and our people's brave fighters will remain in the field, and will remain in a state of continuous confrontation with the (Israeli) enemy."

"We will not be broken and we will not retreat despite the pain…our guns are ready to fight and defend the Palestinian people and their sacred goals,” he added.

Also, Dawood Shahab, a senior leader of the Islamic Jihad, said in a press statement, "No matter how great the sacrifices are, and no matter how aggressive Israelis are and no matter how far they proceed in terrorizing Palestinians, the truth will surely prevail."

Israeli violence must stop

Meanwhile, Jordan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates condemned the ongoing Israeli incursions and attacks on the occupied Palestinian cities, with the latest being Thursday’s attack on Jenin.

The ministry's spokesman, Sinan Majali, said Israel's military escalation campaign threatens an eruption of a new wave of violence, from which everyone will suffer. He urged the halt of Israel's military operations and illegal measures that undermine the so-called two-state solution and any prospects for peace.

Hezbollah supports Palestinian people

On a related note, Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement strongly censured the Israeli aggression.

"Hezbollah condemns the Zionist aggression against the camp, and strongly denounces the terrorist practices carried out by the occupation forces, their storming of hospitals and their brutal assault on the wounded, in violation of all moral and humanitarian laws," the statement read.

Hezbollah further expressed its solidarity with “the Palestinian people and resistance fighters who stand in face of the occupation and its criminality.”

Read more:

• Israeli forces kill two Palestinians, including minor, in occupied West Bank

• Situation on edge of large-scale confrontation with Israel, Islamic Jihad warns

Iran: Muslim countries must unite in support of Palestine 

Also, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kana’ani condemned the Israeli apartheid regime attack on the Jenin camp in the West Bank.

He censured as "shameful" the silence and inaction of international organizations and the so-called advocates of human rights in the West on the heinous crimes perpetrated by Israeli occupation forces on a daily basis. 

The spokesman also called on Muslim countries to unite and coordinate their actions in support of the oppressed Palestinian nation and the legitimate resistance against the Zionist occupiers and to take serious action to prevent the inhumane and terrorist actions carried out by the apartheid regime.

Israeli media claimed the military operation in Jenin was launched after intelligence from the Israel’s so-called internal security service, Shin Bet, about the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement's intention to carry out a major operation against Israeli targets,” adding the “operation aimed to arrest a prominent member of the movement."

However, the Palestinian resistance movements confirm that the Israeli raid comes in the context of recent escalations that have been on the rise especially in light of the new extremist far-right cabinet headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his extremist affiliates.

Over the past months, Israel has ramped up attacks on Palestinian towns and cities throughout the occupied territories. As a result of these attacks, dozens of Palestinians have lost their lives and many others have been arrested.

Most of the raids have focused on Nablus and Jenin, where Israeli forces have been trying to stifle a growing Palestinian resistance in the occupied cities.

More than 170 Palestinians, including at least 30 children, were killed across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem last year. In January 2023 alone, at least 38 Palestinians including five children have been killed.

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