Israeli forces displace 20 Palestinian families in West Bank's Jenin

Israeli forces displaced at least 20 Palestinian families from their homes in Jenin in the occupied West Bank on Friday.

Local sources told The New Arab's sister site Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that Israeli forces used loudspeakers to demand the evacuation of homes near the Khaled bin Al-Waleed Mosque in the city of Jenin's eastern neighbourhood.

Families living in the homes had to travel through mountains to reach their relatives and villages and towns elsewhere in Jenin province.

It came as Israeli forces continued to besiege the eastern neighbourhood of Jenin city for the third day in a row on Friday, with homes stormed and deliberately vandalised.

Al-Araby Al-Jadeed's sources described the situation in Jenin's eastern neighbourhood as "difficult", with the siege continuing and streets and infrastructure heavily bulldozed.

Families were trapped in their homes and there are fears that the humanitarian situation will worsen, especially because people were not prepared for a major invasion.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said its teams are facing significant difficulties responding to people trapped in the city of Jenin and its refugee camp due to Israeli forces obstructing ambulance movements and preventing their crews from reaching their destination to carry out their humanitarian work.

The Red Crescent said that in addition to their work transporting injured and killed people and providing first aid, its teams are attempting to meet the needs of citizens requiring medicine, milk for babies, nappies, or food, which have run out due to the severe Israeli siege on the area.

The organisation said its crews "are facing challenges and dangers in meeting the humanitarian and medical needs of the citizens" as the workers are "directly targeted by gunfire".

The Red Crescent said the crews are stopped and their ambulances searched, adding that they are "prevented from entering any areas in the city of Jenin without prior coordination through the International Committee of the Red Cross", a process that "takes a long time" and exposes "citizens' lives to danger".

The attack on Jenin is part of an ongoing Israeli assault on the northern West Bank in its fourth day on Saturday.

The cities and refugee camps of Tubas and Tulkarem have also been targeted, and the raids have so far killed at least 20 people, according to the Palestinian health ministry.