Jenin, home to Palestinian refugee camp, has become a “ghost town.” UNRWA: West Bank Escalation Threatens Fragile Gaza Ceasefire Peace and Security
Escalating fighting in the occupied West Bank is threatening a fragile ceasefire in Gaza, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) warned on Monday.
The Israel Defense Forces carried out a series of controlled explosions in the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank on Sunday. UNRWA said it had received no advance notice of the explosions “as contact between staff and Israeli authorities is no longer permitted, putting civilian lives at risk.”
‘Ghost Town’
The agency said that during two months of relentless violence, camp residents had “lived the impossible” and Jenin had been turned into a “ghost town.”
“Operations by both Israeli and Palestinian security forces have resulted in the forcible displacement of thousands of camp residents, many of whom now have nowhere to go,” UNRWA said in a statement.
The agency noted that on the day that was supposed to mark the start of a new school term for thousands of children, 13 schools in the northern West Bank remained closed due to Israeli military operations.
Ceasefire under threat
“The shocking scenes we are now witnessing in the West Bank are undermining the fragile ceasefire reached in Gaza, and this is fraught with the risk of a new escalation,” the agency said in a statement.
The first phase of the temporary ceasefire and the agreement to release the hostages came into force two weeks ago, after 15 months of war, during which about 46,000 Palestinians were killed. The conflict erupted after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 250 hostages.
In October 2024, the Israeli parliament passed two laws ending UNRWA operations in the country and banning Israeli authorities from having any contact with the agency. The laws came into effect last Thursday.