Israeli army and Palestinian Authority besiege and raid Jenin hospitals
An Israeli military vehicle blocks Palestinian ambulances in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin on 22 January 2025
Fayha Shalash reports in Middle East Eye on 22 January 2025:
Israeli forces have continued besieging and attacking two Jenin hospitals for a second consecutive day since the launch of a major assault on the northern occupied West Bank city, as Palestinian Authority (PA) forces stormed a third hospital.
Medical teams attempting to provide care have come under direct Israeli fire, while paramedics have been obstructed from reaching the dead and wounded, who remain strewn across the streets.
Israeli forces have killed at least 10 Palestinians and wounded 40 since the attack began on Tuesday morning, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Amid the raid, Israeli military bulldozers destroyed the main road leading to the Jenin government hospital, blocking access with dirt barriers.
Wissam Bakr, the hospital’s director, told Middle East Eye that the bulldozers had made it difficult for medical teams to enter or exit.
More than 600 displaced individuals had sought refuge in the hospital, which was surrounded by military forces and cut off from receiving any food for an entire day.
“The situation was tragic last night,” Bakr said. “The hospital was overwhelmed with displaced people and patients, and the Israeli army had surrounded it on all sides. We feared they would storm it or start shooting.”
Although hospital sieges have occurred during previous military raids, this one is described as the harshest yet. Hundreds of displaced people arrived at the hospital as the incursion began, with many forced to sleep in its corridors.
Despite attempts by the hospital administration to coordinate the delivery of food, the Israeli military prevented it from reaching those inside.
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Indiscriminate shooting
At the al-Amal hospital in Jenin, the Israeli siege was more violent, with soldiers firing indiscriminately into the courtyard, wounding at least three doctors and two hospital workers.