Tunnels under Jenin camp: How Palestinian fighters fooled Israel
During the final hours of Israel’s two-day aerial and ground assault on the Jenin refugee camp earlier this month, the Israeli army said it had besieged a number of Palestinian resistance fighters in a mosque.
After destroying the lower part of the al-Ansar mosque – where members of the Jenin Brigades would operate – with explosive drones and targeted missiles, the army announced that it had found tunnels and that it destroyed them.It claimed that its forces had “neutralised an underground terrorist route” and that the tunnel “was rendered inoperable”.
What Israeli forces did not say, however, was that the fighters managed to withdraw safely from the mosque through the tunnels – the first-ever to be dug under the camp – fighters and residents of the camp say.The raid on Jenin has been described as the largest on the densely populated camp since 2002, during the second Intifada, or mass Palestinian uprising.
Between July 2 and 4, Israel pounded the camp with drones and missiles while hundreds of soldiers raided on foot, taking cover in people’s homes and destroying large parts of the camp. Twelve Palestinians, including three children, were killed, along with one Israeli soldier.
The Israeli operation was intended to weaken the Jenin Brigades – a small, cross-factional Palestinian armed resistance group based in the camp that emerged in September 2021.The raid on Jenin has been described as the largest on the densely populated camp since 2002, during the second Intifada, or mass Palestinian uprising.
Between July 2 and 4, Israel pounded the camp with drones and missiles while hundreds of soldiers raided on foot, taking cover in people’s homes and destroying large parts of the camp. Twelve Palestinians, including three children, were killed, along with one Israeli soldier.
The Israeli operation was intended to weaken the Jenin Brigades – a small, cross-factional Palestinian armed resistance group based in the camp that emerged in September 2021.
