Palestinian factions form joint operations room in Jenin

The Palestinian resistance factions announced yesterday the formation of “a joint operations room” in the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, Anadolu has reported. The military wings of Fatah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad are all involved, the first time that the three movements have joined forces in such joint action.

The agency quoted a resistance fighter from Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, a group affiliated with Fatah. “There is no room to talk [with Israel] except with bullets,” he said. “We are ready to fight and we will not retreat.”

The agency pointed out that armed masked men wearing the insignia of the Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, were also present.

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According to a fighter with Islamic Jihad’s Al-Quds Brigades, “A general mobilisation has been announced in the camp and all factions are ready to fight. The Israeli army will see what it does not expect if it even thinks to enter the camp.” He explained that resistance fighters from different parts of the West Bank have arrived in Jenin camp “in preparation for any battle.”

The joint operations room appears to be a response to the fact that two of the escapees from Gilboa Prison in Israel are believed to be trying to get to Jenin refugee camp. The Israeli Chief of Staff, Aviv Kochavi, said on Wednesday that if the two do indeed reach Jenin, the Israeli army will storm the city in force in order to recapture them, even if the operation affects the rest of the West Bank.

“The camp hopes that the fugitive prisoners, Mujahid Yaqoub Nafi’at, and Ayham Fouad Kammaji, will get here,” said the Al-Quds Brigades fighter. “We will protect them with our bodies and everything we have.”