By Hala Ghorayeb | Staff Writer
On January 26, 2023, the Israeli Occupation Forces raided the Palestinian Refugee camp in
Jenin and attacked Palestinian civilians, leading to a death toll of 11 Palestinians and at least
20 Palestinians injured. Three brothers, Ahmad, Mahmoud, and Mohammad Ghoneem were
of these 11 innocents killed by Israelis who claimed to be “arresting wanted Palestinians” by
attacking and killing the families residing there. Other than the shootings, the Israeli forces
bombed Palestinian homes, released teargas in the Children’s ward of a hospital, ran over
civilians with their military vehicles, and cut off the electricity and service from the camp.
Considered the deadliest attack in the Palestinian West Bank in around 20 years, this event
is the accumulation of horrors committed by the Israeli occupation forces that led to 33
deaths in only the past two months. These attacks include a Palestinian teacher being shot
at, plans by the occupation army to destroy the Palestinian town Khan Al-Ahmar, a little boy
called Salah Ali being shot at in Jerusalem, and the banning of the Palestinian flag being
presented in public spaces. The Palestinian response resulted in retaliatory attacks
conducted by Palestinian civilians, consisting of an individual synagog shooting in East
Jerusalem that coincided with International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Consequently,
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister “promised to expedite gun permits for Israeli
citizens” further enabling the constant attacks on Palestinian civilians.
These consistent attacks have enabled a long-held Israeli agenda of expanding their territory
at the expense of Palestinian lives, land, and livelihoods by demolishing Palestinian houses
and establishing zionist settler communities instead. Proper condemnation by the
international community of the unjust and unjustified Israeli brutality has yet to be seen, and
the blatant silence of international and western media outlets has further enabled the public
have been made to turn a blind eye to these attacks, silencing Palestinians like they have
been silenced for the past century under colonial rule, and extenuated the propagation of
inhumane Israeli policies against Palestinians.