IDF Killed 21-Year-Old Palestinian Defending The Jenin Refugee Camp From Israeli Attacks

I went to the Occupied West Bank and into Jenin, where I had the chance to interview the mother of Izz-al-Din Salahat, 21, who was shot dead by Israeli soldiers invading the Jenin refuge camp, in January 2023.

Izz was born into the war in 2002, which ironically saw the largest military raid in Jenin that year, and not again until last year, when Izz lost his life. He became a resistance fighter, after seeing his friends die one after the other. He eventually saved up money to buy a riffle and join the resistance forces.

The Jenin refugee camp is home to more than 22,000 Palestinians who were expelled from their original homes in 1948 during the Nakba, by Zionist militias to create the state of Israel. On April 9, 2002, during the second mass Palestinian uprising (Intifada), Israeli forces backed by fighter jets invaded the camp with more than 150 armoured tanks and bulldozers. A battle with resistance fighters ensued for more than 10 days, in which at least 52 Palestinian civilians and fighters, and 23 Israeli soldiers, were killed.

For decades Palestinians have vowed to fight back against Israeli settlements and occupiers in the West Bank. Under international law, Palestinians have the right to resist those encroaching on their land, in this case, the Israeli occupation.

The largest Israeli military raid on the Jenin refugee camp in more than 20 years took place just before 7am when undercover Israeli forces dressed as civilians, entered the camp in private vehicles with Palestinian plate numbers; surveillance videos showed this. Moments after, they were backed by dozens of soldiers who snuck into the camp in a large Palestinian dairy company truck. In a joint operation with Israeli intelligence and police, the army surrounded a home in the camp’s Joret al-Dahab neighbourhood – where three resistance fighters were taking shelter – and launched a surprise attack on it with anti-tank missiles and explosives.

The house was almost completely destroyed and caught fire. The men inside it – Mohammad Soboh, 30, and brothers Nour al-Din and Mohammad Ghneim, 28 and 25 respectively – were killed, per al Jazeera. Another fighter, Izz al-Din Salahat, 21, was shot dead up the street from the house, as he was firing back at soldiers. During the raid, Israeli forces in a military vehicle also ran over and killed a 16-year-old child, according to a civil society group. A 61-year-old mother of six was also shot dead through her bedroom window after she had just finished praying, per reports. Palestinian officials also said Israeli forces also shot at ambulance vehicles, preventing them from advancing to treat the wounded, and fired tear gas towards the Jenin public hospital that seeped into the children’s ward, which Israel claimed was not intentional.