‘My house became torture dungeon’ – Palestine Chronicle reports from inside devastated Jenin
Palestinians flee from their homes during an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 31 August 2024
Fayha Shalash reports in The Palestine Chronicle on 9 September 2024:
Ala’ Bawaqneh was finally able to return to her home in Jenin camp, six days after she was forced, along with her family, to leave the house that the Israeli occupation forces had decided to turn into a military barracks.
Only when the Israeli army withdrew from Jenin and its camp on Friday morning, after ten days of a devastating invasion, the horrific details were revealed.
This invasion was the longest since 2002. It resulted in the killing of 22 Palestinians, the wounding of dozens, and enormous destruction of the area.
But the people of Jenin did not waste any time. From the early hours of Friday, they started working on restoring some kind of normalcy to life in the city despite all the destruction and tragic losses they endured during the Israeli invasion of the area. They were finally able to put to rest their loved ones whose bodies had remained trapped in the besieged hospitals throughout the military campaign.
Human Shields
Ala’ lives with her family of nine in a four-story residential building in the Al-Saha area in Jenin camp.
Three days into the invasion, the Israeli army surrounded the building and ordered all occupants to gather at the front door. “We left our homes and stood in front of the building. We were seven, including children and a pregnant woman,” Ala’ told the Palestine Chronicle. “One of the soldiers ordered my sister to walk in front of them as a human shield while they searched the upper floors,” she added.