Palestinians Displaced by Israeli Attacks Face Unknown Fate

On Monday, the Israeli army launched a large-scale military offensive on the Jenin refugee camp, which was described as the most violent in the West Bank in 20 years. Since then, the attacks on the Palestinian inhabitants have not stopped.

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The Israeli army allegedly asked some Palestinian families to evacuate their houses prior to attacks in an attempt to avoid civilian casualties. This, however, did not happen like that. The attacks left at least 10 Palestinians dead and dozens of people injured.

Engulfed by sadness, Om Hussain Dibaba, an elderly Palestinian woman, and the other nine members of her family sit in one of the courtyards of a hospital in Jenin, without knowing their fate.

"Without any prior alarm, my family and I became displaced," the 62-year-old woman said as she clung to two of her grandchildren's hands, referring to the clashes between the Israeli army and Palestinian militants in the city that have stripped her family of any chance to straighten their lives out.

Hastily, Om Hussain raced dozens of her neighbors to flee their houses, without having the luxury of carrying along any of their personal belongings or identity documents.

"Overnight, we were forced to experience a terrifying trip as the Israeli army shot heavy gunfire and gas canisters over our heads, while we couldn't move easily as roads were destroyed by the army," the mother of three denounced, adding that what made matters worse was that neither she nor her neighbors could be sure they would survive the journey.

"From time to time, we were forced to stop and waited for long time on the streets as the Israelis targeted all moving people. Later, ambulances transferred us to the hospital to shelter us," the grieved woman recalled.

Mahdia Khrisha, another Jenin-based woman, was also told to evacuate her house as soon as possible just ahead of the Israeli bombing.

"An ambulance worker told us that the army would bomb my uncle's house ... because our houses are close to each other, so all residents in our camp have to evacuate and find another safer place," the 39-year-old mother of four said.

"History repeats itself. The high number of people I met during our escape reminded me of the Nakba day when our old families fled from their lands to avoid the Israeli crimes against them," Mahdia recalled.

The Nakba Day is observed annually on May 15 by Palestinians to remember the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homes after the establishment of Israel in 1948.

Om Hussain and Mahdia were among 3,000 Palestinians who fled from their houses to local hospitals, the headquarters of Jenin municipality, and the facilities belonging to the Palestinian Authority during the Israeli raid, according to Ahmed Jibril, a spokesperson of the Palestinian Red Cross in Jenin.

"We faced difficulty in the process of evacuating the citizens because of the presence of the Israeli occupation army at the entrances to the camp, and it also impedes the movement of ambulances that transport the elderly and the sick," he said.