APPEAL: Situation in West Bank remains critical

With the news that the Israeli army has, this morning lifted the "military zone" they had imposed on the West Bank, comes the view that now all is well and back to normal here.

This is untrue and misrepresents the frightening situation in the area –24 hour curfews remain in place, with many of the sick and wounded still unable to access medical care, in most towns there is no electricity, no water, and little food; in short the humanitarian crisis remains, peoples lives remain in danger, the only difference is the name the Israeli army gives to the area, purely to misrepresent the situation.

In Jenin the situation is even worse as thousands of civilians remain homeless after the Israeli soldiers destroyed their houses. Also, news is starting to trickle out of Jenin and the refugee camp, journalists from British papers in particular have visited the area, spoken with residents and confirmed the dreadful things that occurred in the camp (see for example www.guardian.co.uk).

For the first time in 9 days, Medical Relief was able to reestablish contact with their doctors and medical teams inside the refugee camp, who were until now prohibited from leaving their homes and they can confirm that many bodies remain scattered in the streets and in buildings. Injured and sick people remain prisoners in their own houses, afraid to leave, in danger if they stay. Others remain trapped in the rubble of their homes that the Israeli army destroyed
in the previous days.