Monday morning, July 3, in Gaza looked similar to the aftermath of an Israeli attack on the Strip. It was solemn, and millions of Palestinians in the coastal enclave were on edge. But there had been no attack on Gaza — this time around, the Israeli assault is happening in Jenin.
Since the early hours of Monday morning, 10 Palestinians have been killed so far by Israeli forces in the ongoing Israeli invasion of Jenin. Over 120 have been injured, and thousands of Palestinian civilians have fled the camp on foot to seek safety in nearby hospitals. Israel has conducted air strikes across the Jenin camp — a tactic Palestinians have become accustomed to witnessing in Gaza.
Hours after the Israeli operation began, Palestinians took to the streets in Gaza on Monday evening to demonstrate in response to a public call declared by Gaza’s resistance factions. While it has been only two months since Israeli bombs last pounded Gaza, people in the Strip anxiously await their leaders to respond to the assault on Jenin.
Tareq Hajjaj, breaking news Gaza Correspondent.
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“We do not want to hear statements while Palestinian blood in Jenin is spilling. We need actions from all the factions together. If there is a good time for Palestinians to get united in their response to the Israeli crimes, then now is the time for that,” Osama Saleh, a protester in Gaza, told breaking news.
Though there has yet to be a response of rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, there is a widespread feeling in Gaza that the Israeli attack on Jenin will not remain confined to the almost one square kilometers that comprise the Jenin refugee camp, with political analysts in Gaza saying people should brace themselves for an escalation and “revolt” across occupied Palestine.
Hamas supporters protest in Gaza City on July 3, 2023, over the Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin. (Photo: Omar Al-Dirawi/APA Images)
Gaza Protests
Early in the morning on Monday, hours after the army’s operation in Jenin began, the Joint Operations Room of the Palestinian factions in Gaza released a statement calling all Palestinians to “defend Jenin” and support it by any means necessary.
“We call upon all Palestinians to confront the occupation and support Jenin to teach the enemy a tough lesson in response to its aggression,” the statement said.
The factions also called on resistance fighters to be “ready to respond” if Israel keeps up its attack on Jenin. This spirit of anticipation and support for the resistance was clear on the faces of protesters in Gaza, who gathered from most of the mosques around Gaza and congregated at Al-Nasser Street west of Gaza City.
“We are here to tell the occupier that you will not be able to get Jenin alone; we will defend it by our souls,” Osama Saleh said as he protested with his father.
Osama said he would “not hesitate to give his life to defend Jenin” and every other part of his homeland.
Although a response of rocket fire from Gaza could mean another round of deadly Israeli airstrikes on the Strip, people like Saleh still want a response from armed groups in Gaza, hoping that it will signal that Jenin is not alone in this fight.
“The criminal occupier who killed civilians should not test the patience of Gaza’s resistance,” Saleh said. “The [resistance’s] response will be equal to their [Israel’s] crimes.”
Wider confrontation on the horizon?
Many Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank have expressed surprise at the fact that Gaza factions have yet to respond with rocket fire, which is a typical course of action for Gaza factions, particularly the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), when Israeli attacks in the West Bank and Jerusalem escalate.
But Gaza is still recovering from the latest Israeli attack in May that killed 33 Palestinians during five days of ongoing Israeli airstrikes, including six leaders of the PIJ in Gaza. The lack of response from Gaza to the Jenin invasion on Monday could be attributed to the fact that the attack on Gaza in May, dubbed “Operation Shield and Arrow,” dealt a significant blow to PIJ’s military leadership and their military infrastructure.
While Hamas leaders said during the protests in Gaza on Monday that the Israeli escalation on Jenin would lead to an “open war with Israel”, and the “resistance would win” as of Tuesday morning, the Israeli invasion of Jenin entered its second day with still no rocket fire from Gaza, indicating that the factions in Gaza could be taking a backseat to the current assault in the West Bank.
However, Gaza resistance groups have been sending some warning signals, Gaza political analyst Hussam Dajani, a political science professor at Gaza’s al-Ummah University, noted.
“The factions in Gaza fired practice rockets towards the sea on Monday morning and sent several diplomatic letters via Egypt and Qatar and the UN to try to push foreign public opinion toward intervening to stop the Israeli attack. If the international community does not move, the factions will not maintain patience for a long time,” Dajani told breaking news.
The factions in Gaza will try to give diplomatic efforts a chance to stop the Israeli attack, Dajani says, but if Israel keeps killing Palestinians in Jenin in a prolonged operation, “confrontation is inevitable.”