ISRAEL PLANS GENOCIDE IN JENIN CAMP, SAYS PALESTINIAN OFFICIAL

RAMALLAH (Palestine), Jan 24 (Bernama-AA) -- Jenin Deputy Governor Mansour al-Saadi warned on Thursday of an Israeli military plan to carry out a large-scale invasion of the Jenin refugee camp in the northern occupied West Bank, likening the potential operation to the Israeli genocide conducted in northern Gaza.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA), al-Saadi said Israeli forces "closed the four entrances to the city of Jenin and its refugee camp with earth mounds, preventing entry and exit."

He cautioned against "an Israeli plan to launch a major invasion of the camp's centre amid ongoing demolitions of buildings and homes surrounding it."

Al-Saadi likened the anticipated offensive in the camp to "a repetition of what happened in northern Gaza -- a systematic genocide campaign" that began on Oct 5, 2024 and continued until the ceasefire in Gaza on Jan 19 of this year.

He also highlighted the difficult conditions faced by patients and medical staff at Jenin Governmental Hospital due to power outages and a lack of fuel caused by the Israeli aggression.

Al-Saadi also noted the absence of an accurate count of displaced people in recent days.

He pointed out that the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) documented the displacement of around 2,000 families from the Jenin refugee camp since mid-December, coinciding with a security campaign carried out by Palestinian security forces in the camp at the time.

The Israeli army continued for the third day in a row a deadly military offensive in the Jenin refugee camp, killing at least 12 people and injuring more than 40.

-- BERNAMA-AA