We had to get away. Weeping as she looks back at the ruin that was once her home, Fatina al-Ghoul says, "Or my daughters and I would have been killed.
Her street has been left in ruins and a bulldozer has already arrived to clear the debris.
During one of the biggest Israeli operations in the occupied West Bank in recent memory, she and nine other women, as well as her family and neighbors, fled their homes in the refugee camp in Jenin.
One hundred families, decimated by drone attacks and fighting between the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and armed Palestinians, are now returning to what is left of their homes. Fatina's family is one of them.
The IDF referred to it as a "counterterrorism operation," saying they were going after local militant groups' arsenals and manufacturing plants.
However, the operation was deemed "open war against the people of Jenin" by the Palestinian Foreign Ministry.
On Monday morning, hundreds of Israeli soldiers supported by drone strikes entered the Jenin refugee camp, where nearly 24,000 people reside in a region that is less than half a square kilometer. This sparked fierce gunfights with armed Palestinians inside.
Palestinian health officials reported that over the following two days, 12 Palestinians—including four children—died and more than 100 others were injured. As its forces began to withdraw on Tuesday night, the Israeli military reported the death of one of its soldiers.
"Everything in my house is destroyed. Everything has been burned and broken. All of it is damaged, says Fatina.
A number of neighborhood hospitals also told the BBC that they were having trouble managing the fighting's aftereffects.
On Wednesday, thousands of residents attended the funerals of the deceased. Eight of the deceased, it has been confirmed to the BBC, were soldiers from the main Palestinian factions.
Gunshots were heard in defense of the fallen fighters.
Many locals claim they hold the main Palestinian authority in the West Bank, the Palestinian Authority (PA), accountable for failing to protect them during the operation.
Online videos depict two PA representatives being yelled at by the crowd and forced to leave a funeral.
Residents complained that the PA security forces simply allowed the Israeli military vehicles to enter the city at the beginning of the operation.
Fatina claims that she also holds the PA accountable for their inaction. This is where we live. We are the only ones left to defend the fear in which we live. ".
Between the PA and Israel, there are agreements. According to what the Palestinian leadership requested, the security services carried out their duties during the military operation, and the PA has not violated the agreement, according to Jenin City's mayor and PA member Akram Rajoub.
One member of a militant Palestinian group claimed that Israeli forces had successfully destroyed several of its buildings, including an explosives storage facility.
The UN's human rights chief, however, criticized the operation's size inside a heavily populated city and refugee camp.
It is now crucial for many residents, like Fatina, to have immediate access to food, water, and shelter.
"We'll spend the night sleeping on the streets. Even sitting down is impossible inside the house. None of our neighbors or we have anywhere else to go.
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