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Τhe truth behind IDF’s operation in Jenin refugee camp

July 10, 2023 

The Flag Report

Date: 10/07/2023 Time: 10:48

 By Pinhas Inbari

In order to understand the deep implications of the IDF operation that has just ended, it is necessary to emphasize that the focus of the IDF operation was not the city of Jenin, but the Jenin refugee camp, and if there was activity within the city, it was against spots connected to the refugee camp, which is the core of the problem in northern Samaria. When we sharpen the objective of the operation against the Jenin refugees, not the citizens of Jenin, we also sharpen the nature of this intifada, the third, which, unlike its two predecessors, raises the refugee problem, and it turns out that the world has ceased to be interested in it, and therefore the IDF’s activity did not interest the world so much.

Right on the eve of the IDF operation, there was a donor conference for UNRWA, the UN Relief and Work Agency for Palestinian refugees, in early June in New York, and it seems that this was the first time that it became clear that the donors that sustain this agency are indifferent to the fate of the refugees, and apart from lip service announcements, no donations were reported to the UN agency, which has been unable to balance its budget for years, and as a result has difficulty paying salaries to its employees. As a result, it suffers from a chronic employee strikes especially among teaching staff.

This was reflected in remarks by UNRWA Director Philip Lazarini, in which he stated that at this conference no country had made a new commitment. But the most dramatic feature of the world’s indifference to the refugee situation is the cessation of American aid, which for most of UNRWA’s years was the main pillar on which the agency relied. Of the total $1 billion in current budget, the US used to fund more than half, but for several years the American money has not been absorbed into UNRWA accounts.

When monitoring UNRWA’s reports on USA participation in the current budget, we find endless announcements that the US has “committed” but we have not seen any announcement that any promised amount has been received. The current budget is the budget that holds the administration and permanent services, without which there is no organization. Alongside it there are budgets for specific projects that do not pass through UNRWA, but directly for projects, such as the war against the coronavirus, or mental health assistance to Gaza’s children following the many rounds of fighting. The New York conference seemed to have broken all records, to the point that UNRWA issued a special statement blaming the donors, including the United States (!) asserting that all announcement of support are a recycling of previous promises that were also not fulfilled.

According to UNRWA’s announcement, out of the usual 70 million a month that UNRWA needs, the US has pledged only 13 million – again a recycled promise – not fulfilment. As far as my memory does not betray me, this was UNRWA’s first statement attacking the United States for not keeping promises. So, the difference between Trump and Biden is that Trump has openly and officially stopped the aid, while Biden has announced the resumption of funding, but is not funding. Alongside the practical withdrawal of the United States from funding UNRWA, the Arab states have since long stopped funding, along with the cessation of funding to the Palestinian Authority, and when I recently met with a source from the Gulf and tried to talk to him about the Palestinian problem, he told me: Change the page… The Palestinians don’t interest us anymore. However, when the IDF attacks the Jenin refugee camp, it raises the refugee problem at a point in time when the world turns its back on them. How will this affect the right of return? It will. But about this in another report.

Pinhas Inbari is a veteran Arab affairs correspondent who formerly reported for Israel Radio and Al Hamishmar newspaper, and currently serves as an analyst for the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.

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