MEMRI: The Palestinian Account of the Battle of Jenin
Inquiry & Analysis - Jihad and Terrorism
Studies/Palestinian Authority
April 24, 2002
No. 90

The Palestinian Account of the Battle of Jenin

The Arab media has in recent days focused much attention on
the consequences of the Jenin refugee camp battle, which
according to their reports, resulted in a massacre,
perpetuated by the Israeli army. At the same time, the Arab
media published numerous testimonies given by commanders of
the Palestinian factions in Jenin, both during the conflict
and after it ended, regarding the fighting. Following are
excerpts from these accounts:

Fighting the IDF
Sheikh Jamal Abu Al-Hija, the commander of the Hamas Izz
Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades in the Jenin refugee camp, told
the Hamas website in an interview that the members of the
various factions, "along with volunteers from the
Palestinian security forces," prepared in advance for the
Israeli incursion.(1) Sheikh Abu Al-Hija provided more
details on the fighting by phone to the Qatari television
channel Al-Jazeera, saying, "[We placed] explosive devices
on the roads and in the houses; surprises [await] the
occupation forces. In several places, there are clashes
between the Mujahideen(2) and the occupation forces. The
occupation forces flee in panic from the Jenin camp - but
they escalate by using tractors, airplanes, and tanks
against the camp. The truth is that the fighting is being
conducted from neighborhood to neighborhood, like guerilla
warfare. The Mujahideen are using automatic rifles,
explosive devices, and hand grenades."(3)

The London based Arabic-language daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat
quoted Sheikh Abu Al-Hija as saying, "The fighting forces,
from all the factions in the camp, have been equipped with
explosive belts and grenades."(4) Sheikh Abu-Al-Hija told
the Jordanian weekly Al-Sabil, "The Mujahideen managed to
besiege nine Zionist soldiers inside one of the houses, and
attacked them using hand grenades and bombs until the
entire house went up in flames with the soldiers of the
occupation inside. Witnesses said that the occupation
forces extracted the soldiers charred and burned."(5)

Palestinian Children and School Bags Filled with Explosives
The Islamic Jihad commander in the Jenin refugee camp, Abu
Jandal,(6) was interviewed several times by Al-Jazeera
during the fighting. In one conversation, Abu Jandal said:
"This is the second successive day that the Israeli
occupation forces are trying [to enter the camp] with the
help of Apache helicopters and tanks. But the steadfastness
of the fighters, who swore at the beginning of the battle
not to permit [the IDF] to advance towards this camp,
defends the honor of the Arab nation from the alleys of the
Jenin refugee camp. There were several attempts from
several routes, but these were blocked. The truth is that
our fighters have switched to an offensive; today we went
on the offensive. The Israeli unit commander was killed
this morning, 50 meters from the place from which I am
speaking to you. I, the commander of the battle of the
Jenin camp, have chosen for myself the name 'The Martyr Abu
Jandal,' because all the fighters around me are martyrs.
Believe me, there are children stationed in the houses with
explosive belts at their sides. Today, one of the children
came to me with his school bag. I asked him what he wanted,
and he replied, 'Instead of books, I want an explosive
device, in order to attack...'"

Asked how long his men would be able to stand against the
Israeli military when all they had were light weapons, Abu
Jandal replied: "No. That's not true. We have the weapon of
surprise. We have the weapon of honor. We have the divine
weapon, the weapon of Allah who stands at our side. We have
weapons that are better than theirs. I am the one with the
truth, and I put my faith in Allah, while they put their
faith in a tank."(7)

Sheikh Abu Al-Hija also stated, "Some of the youths stood
fast, and filled their school bags with explosive
devices."(8) On another occasion, Sheikh Abu Al-Hija had
difficulty assessing the number of Israeli victims: "It is
hard to provide accurate data, and we cannot assess the
battle by counting enemy losses. But the enemy's
acknowledgement of 24 killed and 130 wounded attests that
it has taken many losses. The list announced by the
occupation army includes only the names of the Jews
[killed] and disregards the names of the Druze and the
Lahad soldiers [i.e. South Lebanon Army] who participated
in all past incursions and [will participate] in the future
as well. Our estimate is that the enemy has suffered much
greater losses."(9)

Al-Sharq Al-Awsat reported that in Jenin, a Palestinian
woman named Ilham 'Ali Dasouqi had blown herself up among
Israeli soldiers, killing two and wounding six. The paper
quoted a source in the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, who said
that she had "followed the path of Nasser 'Uweis," who the
paper said had blown himself up near soldiers in
Nablus.(10) However, 'Uweis, the commander of Fatah's
Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in Samaria, was arrested several
days later. It appears that the reports of his death in a
suicide bombing were an attempt to facilitate his escape.

The Egyptian government-sponsored Al-Ahram Weekly ran an
interview with "Omar," a young, one-armed Islamic Jihad
bomb maker known as an 'engineer' who discussed how the
Palestinians booby-trapped Jenin, including the
participation of women and children in the battles.(11)
"He is a member of the Islamic Jihad, but says in Jenin all
the factions were loyal to only one cause: liberation or
death.' Of all the fighters in the West Bank we were the
best prepared,' he says. 'We started working on our plan:
to trap the invading soldiers and blow them up from the
moment the Israeli tanks pulled out of Jenin last month.'"

The newspaper explained: "Omar and other 'engineers' made
hundreds of explosive devices and carefully chose their
locations. 'We had more than 50 houses booby-trapped
around the camp. We chose old and empty buildings and the
houses of men who were wanted by Israel because we knew the
soldiers would search for them,' [Omar] said. 'We cut off
lengths of main water pipes and packed them with explosives
and nails. Then we placed them about four meters apart
throughout the houses - in cupboards, under sinks, in
sofas.' The fighters hoped to disable the Israeli army's
tanks with much more powerful bombs placed inside garbage
bins on the street. More explosives were hidden inside the
cars of Jenin's most wanted men. Connected by wires, the
bombs were set off remotely, triggered by the current from
a car battery."

"According to Omar, everyone in the camp, including the
children, knew where the explosives were located so that
there was no danger of civilians being injured. It was the
one weakness in the plan. 'We were betrayed by the spies
among us,' he says. The wires to more than a third of the
bombs were cut by soldiers accompanied by collaborators.
'If it hadn't been for the spies, the soldiers would never
have been able to enter the camp. Once they penetrated the
camp, it was much harder to defend it.'"

"And what about the explosion and ambush last Tuesday which
killed 13 soldiers? 'They were lured there,' he says. 'We
all stopped shooting and the women went out to tell the
soldiers that we had run out of bullets and were leaving.'
The women alerted the fighters as the soldiers reached the
booby-trapped area. 'When the senior officers realized what
had happened, they shouted through megaphones that they
wanted an immediate cease-fire. We let them approach to
retrieve the men and then opened fire. Some of the soldiers
were so shocked and frightened that they mistakenly ran
towards us.'"

Jamal Huweil, an Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades commander in the
Jenin camp, told the London-based Arabic-language daily
Al-Hayat that "four Israeli soldiers were killed and [the
Palestinians] took their automatic weapons. The youths with
the explosive devices also put four Israeli tanks out of
commission."(12)

Raed 'Abbas, a fighter from the Democratic Front for the
Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) in the Jenin camp, told
Al-Hayat, "All the fighters were sworn to fight to the
end... We have no choice but to fight, and this is the
decision of all the fighters. The talk of fighters
surrendering is completely untrue. If it were true, how
come two Israeli soldiers were killed Monday morning? We
estimate that their losses are much greater than what they
are reporting. Battles between them and us are being waged
at extremely short range. They have failed in all their
attempts to advance, and our fighters are blowing
themselves up in front of them and planting explosive
devices on the roads. The situation is extremely dire. The
[Israeli] air force is continuing its bombing. A few
moments ago they launched several missiles, which set fire
to many houses."(13)

All the Palestinians who were interviewed emphasized their
intent to fight to the death, even in the last days of the
battle. Sheikh Abu Al-Hija was quoted by the United Arab
Emirate (UAE) daily Al-Bayan as saying, "After these days
of steadfastness and unique resistance, the fighters in
Jenin reiterate their motto: 'No surrender - either victory
or martyrdom.' Our strength lies in our being true
Mujahideen in the face of the new Nazis."(14) Unidentified
Palestinian sources added, "The ammunition of the fighters
in the camp has run out, and they have chosen martyrdom.
They are fighting with knives and stones, and blowing
themselves up in front of the soldiers of the
occupation."(15) Haj 'Ali, a commander of the Islamic
Jihad's Al-Quds Brigades, said that the Palestinian
resistance persists in its intense fighting, and will not
permit the soldiers of the occupation to take over the
camp.(16)

Civilians and Fighters
Some of the Palestinian's interviewed discussed the role
played by the civilian population in the fighting. However,
their reports regarding whether civilians left the camp
were contradictory:

Sheikh Abu Al-Hija said, "Even the youths had a significant
role in the uprising. They refused to leave the camp before
the incursion, and most of them are now under arrest by the
occupation forces. No one was asked [by us] to stay or go;
no instructions were issued to the residents by the
fighters, and the choice remained in their own hands. It
was necessary for some of the women to remain [in the camp]
to provide services for the fighters. The behavior of the
residents was honorable; they were determined to remain, to
go through everything the Mujahideen are going through, and
to provide them with services."

"...When some Mujahideen ran out of ammunition, they leaped
onto the tanks in an attempt to grab weapons from the
soldiers, who were hiding inside the tanks. As a result,
some of them engaged in barehanded combat with the Zionist
soldiers. Some of the youths steadfastly filled their
school bags with explosive devices; some of the boys
remained without food or water for four days. Although the
women knew how bad the situation was, a large portion of
them preferred to remain, to prepare food for the
Mujahideen, to risk their lives by bringing water for them,
and to raise morale - something that greatly encouraged
[their] steadfastness."(17)

However, other Palestinians who were interviewed reported
that most of the civilians left the refugee camps. The
commander of Hamas members in the Jenin camp, Jamal 'Abd
Al-Salam, said that the women, children, and elderly had
left the camp, and that the fighters intended to fight to
the last drop of blood.(18) Another man, Abu Muhammad,
reported to Al-Jazeera from Jenin: "Every time [the IDF]
tries to advance, a surprise awaits it - the blowing up of
one of the buildings in the Jenin camp. Then they rush to
retrieve the Israeli bodies and wounded, withdraw, and try
to advance Israeli tractors that destroy houses
indiscriminately on top of their owners, whether they are
in the houses or not. They have sent away most of the
civilians [from the refugee camp], but there is still a
large number of civilians inside the camp."(19)

On this matter, Raed 'Abbas, the DFLP commander, said that
the Israelis "destroyed many houses. They are trying to
wreak vengeance upon the civilians. The army is evacuating
the [residents of the] camp forcibly, in order to close in
more and more on the fighters."(20)

In contrast, the Islamic Jihad announced that its commander
in Jenin, Muhammad Tawalbeh, had prevented civilians from
leaving the camp. The Islamic Jihad website announced that
Tawalbeh died in his booby-trapped home when he blew it up
on the Israeli soldiers inside it on April 6. The
announcement went on to say that Tawalbeh "had thwarted all
attempts by the occupation to evacuate the camp residents
to make it easier for the Israelis to destroy [the camp] on
the heads of the fighters."(21)

The Future of the Struggle
Sheikh Abu Al-Hija insisted that it was necessary to learn
from the battle in the Jenin refugee camp. "We are proud
[of the battle], and hope that it will serve as a model for
the rest of the cities, so that there [too] the residents
will be materially and morally prepared for any
confrontation. We need to learn the lessons from this
battle, and I hope the few dozen fighters who managed to
face down the most arrogant army in the region will serve
as a lesson for the Arab armies. The Arab peoples must
learn from these victories, and not remain captives in the
hands of the regimes that keep their basic rights from
them..."

"The camp took a hard blow - but even had the blow killed
us, they would not have killed the [armed] resistance. It
will not be long until the ranks fill [again], until a new
generation takes the uprising into its hands and raises the
flag anew. This is not the first battle, nor the last. Our
people will not be still until it sees our land liberated
and independent."(22)

"Abu Ahmad," an Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades leader in the
Jenin refugee camp, said in a telephone conversation with
the Hizbullah weekly Al-Intiqad, "The Palestinian
resistance will carry out more operations like the
martyrdom operation in Haifa, in order to emphasize that it
still exists and that it maintains its strength and its
capability in spite of the blows [it has taken]. The
martyrdom operation by 'Andalib Taqatqah [in Jerusalem's
Mahane Yehuda market] is proof of the [Al-Aqsa Martyr]
Brigades' capability of striking at the [Zionist] entity
any time, anywhere. Martyrdom operations were invented
during the time when the Zionists occupied the West Bank,
and it does not matter much whether the [forces] are in the
cities or outside the cities."(23)

'Ali Safouri, a commander of Islamic Jihad's Al-Quds
Brigades in the Jenin camp, reported to the Islamic Jihad
website in the early days of the fighting: "We have
prepared unexpected surprises for the enemy. We are
determined to pay him back double, and teach him a lesson
he will not forget. We will attack him on the home front,
in Jerusalem, in Haifa, and in Jaffa, everywhere. We
welcome them, and we have prepared a special graveyard in
the Jenin camp for them. We swore on the martyrs that we
would place a curfew on the Zionist cities and avenge every
drop of blood spilled upon our sacred land. We call on the
soldiers of Sharon to refuse his orders, because entering
the [Jenin] camp. the capital of the martyrs' [operations],
will, Allah willing, be the last thing they do in their
lives."(24)

In an interview with Al-Manar, the Hizbullah television
channel, Islamic Jihad leader Dr. Ramadan Abdallah Shalah,
stated as follows: "The fighters in the [Jenin] camp told
us that this is a 'hit-and-not-run' battle, and that they
are fighting to the last drop of blood and to the last
bullet - and that is what they did. The Zionist enemy
thinks he is creating a Palestinian Masada for us - that
is, that we have chosen to commit suicide - but we say to
him that he is mistaken. We are not creating a Palestinian
Masada, but a Palestinian Karbalaa,(25) which will hasten
the second Jewish Masada. until the Zionist entity ceases
to exist. Today the Jenin camp was reborn, not
destroyed..."(26)

Endnotes:

(1) www.palestine-info.info, April 20, 2002.
(2) i.e. Jihad warriors.
(3) Al-Jazeera (Qatar), April 8, 2002.
(4) Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), April 7, 2002.
(5) Cited in Al-Shaab (Egypt), April 19, 2002.
(6) The Palestine Center for Human Rights, Weekly Report on
Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian
Territories, April 11-17, 2002. After his death in the
battle was reported, it was announced that his real name
was Hazem Ahmad Rayhan Qabha.
(7) Al-Jazeera (Qatar), April 4, 2002.
(8) www.palestine-info.info, April 20, 2002.
(9) www.palestine-info.info, April 20, 2002.
(10) Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), April 7, 2002.
(11) www.ahram.org.eg/weekly/2002/582/6inv2.htm.
(12) Al-Hayat (London), April 5, 2002.
(13) Al-Hayat (London), April 9, 2002.
(14) Al-Bayan (United Arab Emirates), April 10, 2002.
(15) Al-Bayan (United Arab Emirates), April 11, 2002.
(16) Al-Jazeera (Qatar), April 8, 2002.
(17) www.palestine-info.info, April 20, 2002.
(18) Al-Jazeera (Qatar), April 8, 2002.
(19) Al-Jazeera (Qatar), April 8, 2002.
(20) Al-Hayat (London), April 9, 2002.
(21) www.jihadonline.org, April 10, 2002.
(22) www.palestine-info.info, April 20, 2002.
(23) Al-Intiqad (Lebanon), April 19, 2002.
(24) www.qudsway.com, April 3, 2002.
(25) In the battle of Karbula (680) Hussein, the leader of
the Shi'itels, was canonized.
(26) Al-Manar Television (Lebanon), April 10, 2002, cited
at www.jihadonline.org.

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