On Thursday night, February 22, residents of the Jenin refugee camp were panicked by the sound of a massive explosion, later revealed to be an Israeli drone strike on a vehicle in the camp. The drone strike resulted in the killing of two Palestinian youths and the injured of 14 others, including 5 children, one of whom is in critical condition.
A charred body arrived at the hospital alongside the other injuries resulting from the drone strike, the Director of Jenin Governmental Hospital, Dr. Wisam Bakr, told Mondoweiss. The identity of the martyr was not known in the early hours of the assassination, but he was eventually identified by his family as Yasser Hanoun, a member of the Jenin Brigade in the camp. Another young man, Said Jaradat , 17, succumbed to his injuries hours later.
Local sources told Mondoweiss that the martyred Jaradat was not with Hanoun in the vehicle, who was alone, while Jaradat was in the vicinity at the time of the strike.
The assassination operation took place on a busy street in the center of the camp, which is considered a densely populated residential area filled with commercial stores. The attack was in front of an e-games store, where children and teenagers often play, explaining the numerous children’s injuries.
Osaid Shalabi, an eyewitness from the camp, told Mondoweiss that as soon as Hanoun’s vehicle arrived on site, they heard the sound of two explosions, as the vehicle was targeted with two reconnaissance missiles, and subsequently caught fire.
“We ran to see what was happening and tried to extinguish the fire in the vehicle,” Shalabi said. “But the situation was dangerous, and we couldn’t approach due to the sound of explosions from the weapons inside the vehicle. When the Red Crescent and Civil Defense arrived, they extinguished the vehicle and transported the injured to the hospitals.”
Regarding the size of the explosion, Shalabi said that the two missiles resulted in a very large explosion.
“The shrapnel scattered about 10 meters outward,” he explained. “The intestines of one of the injured were outside his body, and another had his hand severed due to the explosion. The martyr was charred, and we did not know his identity at first.”
The Jenin Brigade, the armed resistance group based in the refugee camp, announced in a statement the assassination of one of its field commanders, Yasser Mustafa Hanoun, “who was martyred in a direct Israeli airstrike while performing his jihadist duty as his vehicle was targeted in the Jenin camp.”
The statement affirmed that “the blood of the martyrs will remain a shining light for the mujahideen on the path of dignity and honor, the path of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa.” Th Brigade emphasized that It emphasized that the group’s resistance is ongoing, and that “our weapon is legitimate in all arenas.”
One of the close associates of the Jenin Brigade in the camp, who preferred not to be named, expressed to Mondoweiss that the Israeli army’s new approach to remote assassinations comes after the failed military operation carried out by Israeli special forces two days earlier on February 20. During that operation, the army infiltrated the camp to a location where several resistance members were present, but failed to arrest or assassinate them.
“The members of the Brigade successfully withdrew amid very intense clashes and inflicted losses on the occupation soldiers,” the associate said. “They managed to surround the infiltrating force for hours until military reinforcements arrived to rescue them from the camp. Today, after the assassination, a special Israeli force attempted to infiltrate the camp, but they failed due to the vigilance of the resistance, and this is why they started killing the resistance members with drones.”
This sentiment was echoed by the Jenin Brigade through its Telegram channel, which stated:
“Our fighters in the Jenin Brigade engaged in armed clashes against the occupation army, including the detonation of several explosive devices. It is noteworthy that the enemy initiated the intrusion through special forces in civilian vehicles, which were detected and dealt with…our fighters also confirmed causing direct injuries to the Israeli occupation forces and their vehicles.”
The Israeli army issued a statement on the assassination operation, stating that an Israeli drone targeted a vehicle in the camp and that the objective was Yasser Hanoun, “who was accused of carrying out several shooting operations in recent weeks at the Meirav settlement in the Jalbon region, Mofu Dotan near Ya’bad, and the Jalameh and Salem checkpoints surrounding Jenin.”
The army statement added that Hanoun, a former prisoner from Jenin and affiliated with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, served his sentence in prison for his involvement in military activities within the organization. He was described as “on his way to carry out a shooting operation.” Israeli media outlets mentioned that Hanoun was considered a “ticking bomb,” and that he was accompanied by other armed individuals in the vehicle, even though such reports are belied by eyewitness accounts gathered by Mondowiess.
The Israeli forces released a video depicting the moment of the assassination operation, showing that the vehicle was completely stationary inside the camp and located in a lively area surrounded by several people.
The assassination is the latest in a series of renewed crackdowns on Palestinian armed resistance in the West Bank ever since October 7.
Considering the staggering inequality in military power between Palestinian resistance groups and the Israeli occupation forces it is amazing that the resistance is still able to fight. It seems that Israel has long been worried by the Brigade’s capabilities and its high level of public support within Jenin. The linked piece from 2022 mentions a lack of support by Hamas: is that still the case?
It emphasized that the group’s resistance is ongoing, and that “our weapon is legitimate in all arenas._______________________________________________________
Toward understanding the light of Palestine getting dimmer and dimmer.