The United Nations Pleads for Funds to Rebuild Jenin Refugee Camp
The United Nations (U.N.) pleaded for funds to help rebuild the Jenin refugee camp, in the occupied West Bank, after it was left devastated by a brutal, multifaceted Israeli military raid last week.
The call comes after dozens of foreign diplomats visited the camp in the occupied West Bank earlier Saturday to check on the destruction caused by the massive operation, one of the largest in decades.
Diplomats from 30 countries met with locals and representatives of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and listened to them about the situation in the camp following the Israeli assault.
The visit was organized by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
“The (Israeli) military assault on Jenin was painful,” said European Union representative to the Palestinian territories Sven Kuehn von Burgsdorff as he led a delegation of U.N. officials and diplomats from 25 countries to the camp in the northern West Bank.
He stressed that what happened in the camp was a “violation of international law.”
The European diplomat said Saturday’s visit aims to show solidarity with the civilian population in the Jenin camp, to see the damage that has occurred and to submit reports to their capitals on what happened in the city.
He said the Israeli raid has inflicted damage on hundreds of homes and water and sewage networks in the camp.
‘Painful’
His remarks echoed U.N. chief Antonio Guterres who earlier Thursday told reporters “there was an excessive force used by Israeli forces” in its 48-hour operation, the largest Israel has staged in the Palestinian territory for years.
It included airstrikes and armored bulldozers ripping up streets.
The Israeli army withdrew from Jenin early Wednesday, concluding its largest military operation in the city in more than 20 years.
At least 12 Palestinians were killed and more than 140 others injured in the offensive, according to the Health Ministry. Among the fatalities were five minors.
“We are concerned about the deployment of weaponry and weapons systems which question the proportionality of the military during the operation,” Kuehn von Burgsdorff said.
“This cycle of violence has to end, it cannot continue. If there is no political solution to the conflict, we are going to stand here in a week’s time, in a month’s time, in a year’s time, with nothing changed,” he added.
As the delegation toured the camp, residents peered out of holes left in the walls by Israeli rockets, and local authorities tested a new camp-wide alarm system to warn of future raids.
UN Plea for Funds
Jenin camp has been the site of several large-scale raids by the Israeli military this year, but this week’s was the biggest and most brutal such operation in the West Bank since the second Palestinian “intifada” or uprising of the early 2000s.
The camp’s infrastructure was severely damaged during the raid. Nearly 8 kilometers (5 miles) of water pipes and 3 kilometers of sewage pipes were destroyed, the U.N. said. More than 100 houses were damaged and a number of schools were also lightly damaged.
The refugee camp is one of the poorest and most densely populated in the occupied West Bank, with some 18,000 people living in just 0.43 square kilometers (0.16 of a square mile).
U.N. officials on Saturday made a plea for funds to help rebuild the camp.
“To restore services and scale up support to the children, we need cash … our appeal is desperately underfunded,” Leni Stenseth, deputy commissioner-general of the UNRWA, said.
“I would urge you to consider announcing your support for the work we are going to do here in Jenin camp in the coming weeks and months as soon as possible,” she added.
On Thursday Algeria announced $30 million to “help rebuild the Palestinian city of Jenin after the barbaric and criminal attack” by Israel, and the United Arab Emirates, which normalized ties with Israel in 2020, said Wednesday it “will provide $15 million.”
The United Nations Pleads for Funds to Rebuild Jenin Refugee Camp
The United Nations (U.N.) pleaded for funds to help rebuild the Jenin refugee camp, in the occupied West Bank, after it was left devastated by a brutal, multifaceted Israeli military raid last week.
The call comes after dozens of foreign diplomats visited the camp in the occupied West Bank earlier Saturday to check on the destruction caused by the massive operation, one of the largest in decades.
Diplomats from 30 countries met with locals and representatives of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and listened to them about the situation in the camp following the Israeli assault.
The visit was organized by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
“The (Israeli) military assault on Jenin was painful,” said European Union representative to the Palestinian territories Sven Kuehn von Burgsdorff as he led a delegation of U.N. officials and diplomats from 25 countries to the camp in the northern West Bank.
He stressed that what happened in the camp was a “violation of international law.”
The European diplomat said Saturday’s visit aims to show solidarity with the civilian population in the Jenin camp, to see the damage that has occurred and to submit reports to their capitals on what happened in the city.
He said the Israeli raid has inflicted damage on hundreds of homes and water and sewage networks in the camp.
‘Painful’
His remarks echoed U.N. chief Antonio Guterres who earlier Thursday told reporters “there was an excessive force used by Israeli forces” in its 48-hour operation, the largest Israel has staged in the Palestinian territory for years.
It included airstrikes and armored bulldozers ripping up streets.
The Israeli army withdrew from Jenin early Wednesday, concluding its largest military operation in the city in more than 20 years.
At least 12 Palestinians were killed and more than 140 others injured in the offensive, according to the Health Ministry. Among the fatalities were five minors.
“We are concerned about the deployment of weaponry and weapons systems which question the proportionality of the military during the operation,” Kuehn von Burgsdorff said.
“This cycle of violence has to end, it cannot continue. If there is no political solution to the conflict, we are going to stand here in a week’s time, in a month’s time, in a year’s time, with nothing changed,” he added.
As the delegation toured the camp, residents peered out of holes left in the walls by Israeli rockets, and local authorities tested a new camp-wide alarm system to warn of future raids.
UN Plea for Funds
Jenin camp has been the site of several large-scale raids by the Israeli military this year, but this week’s was the biggest and most brutal such operation in the West Bank since the second Palestinian “intifada” or uprising of the early 2000s.
The camp’s infrastructure was severely damaged during the raid. Nearly 8 kilometers (5 miles) of water pipes and 3 kilometers of sewage pipes were destroyed, the U.N. said. More than 100 houses were damaged and a number of schools were also lightly damaged.
The refugee camp is one of the poorest and most densely populated in the occupied West Bank, with some 18,000 people living in just 0.43 square kilometers (0.16 of a square mile).
U.N. officials on Saturday made a plea for funds to help rebuild the camp.
“To restore services and scale up support to the children, we need cash … our appeal is desperately underfunded,” Leni Stenseth, deputy commissioner-general of the UNRWA, said.
“I would urge you to consider announcing your support for the work we are going to do here in Jenin camp in the coming weeks and months as soon as possible,” she added.
On Thursday Algeria announced $30 million to “help rebuild the Palestinian city of Jenin after the barbaric and criminal attack” by Israel, and the United Arab Emirates, which normalized ties with Israel in 2020, said Wednesday it “will provide $15 million.”