Jenin- in a 40-year-old abandoned house in the Wadi Burqin area, west of the JeninSouad Abu Attia and her family settled down after being displaced from al-Hawashin neighborhood in the camp.
On the day of displacement, Souad and her family witnessed all the horrors of displacement and expulsion, as did all the families in the camp, who were forced to leave their homes under the threat of the Israeli occupation army.
The family stayed with Suad’s husband’s relative in Burqin for two months. After many attempts, they were able to find the abandoned house and moved in to make it more comfortable for their four children. While Souad’s eldest son is trying to pass his high school exams but finds difficulty in following his lessons and finding enough time and space.
Abandoned house
On a triangular bench, the only piece of furniture in the house, Souad sat down to explain what she and her family went through during the four months they were displaced from the camp. She says they were forced to make do with this house so that her son Sami, 18, could take his high school exams. “The family was recently displaced, and the house is crowded and does not provide the required academic atmosphere for a Tawjihi student, as my son was deprived of school since the authority’s crisis with the Jenin battalion, and then we were expelled from our house.”
The family lost their source of income two years ago, making it difficult to find housing even at a reduced rent.
The house – which Abu Sami, Souad’s husband, was able to agree with the landlord to postpone paying rent for the current period – has no windows, no doors, no furniture, and not enough space for four children and their parents.
Souad and her family went through very difficult days, the first days of displacement, and even after moving to this house where there is no water, no electricity, and no doors. “We registered the children in Burqin school, and after a few days of their attendance, they felt embarrassed among their peers because they did not have school bags,” Souad told Al Jazeera Net.
After nearly five months of displacement, Souad finds herself unable to provide the minimum needs of her children. “The house needs mattresses, blankets and windows, and the night here is a war with mosquitoes and insects, and we can’t sleep,” she says. She talks about the approaching Eid, the distance from loved ones, the difficulty of providing supplies for children, and the psychological impact it has on them.
Horseshoe of Happiness
Inside a small warehouse for agricultural purposes, Heba Salem, 32, and her seven children live after being displaced from their home in Jenin refugee camp five months ago.
The room is built on the mountainside overlooking Jenin camp, in an area called Harash al-Sa’ada, which for Hiba’s family has turned into a point of unhappiness.
“Looking at the camp is like a burn in my heart, every day I see the occupation bulldozers demolishing houses inside the camp, and I feel sad, our houses are demolished in front of our eyes, and our whole life inside the camp is demolished and disappears, and we are helpless,” Hiba says.
In front of the room, children are trying to build a playhouse, and with boards of wood and bricks, little girls are forming a room, a kitchen and a courtyard in front of the house.
During the play session, which their mother says lasts from early in the morning until the end of the day, the children sing a song for the homeland.
“There is nowhere for them to go from the time they wake up until sunset, and they build, tear down and rebuild the house many times, this is the only outlet for them, and despite the lack of safety here, the room is too small for children of this age who need to play and move, and it is very hot, especially as summer enters,” says Heba.
No solution in sight
Displaced families from Jenin camp hope to return to the camp, and residents say their only wish is to be able to enter the camp, rebuild it, and live there again.
“I wish we could go back to our house, our neighborhood and the street of the camp, our life in the camp was different, it was beautiful, today we have nothing, no houses, no shelter, no source of income, I have children whose school life is over, the school year will end and they did not enroll in school, they lost this year, and I don’t think they will be able to enroll in school next year either.”
Heba was unable to enroll her children in the online classes that the Ministry of Education approved for displaced students in the first months of the Israeli military operation in the camp, as classes were suspended in all schools in Jenin city.
The ministry had adopted an electronic teaching system, which Heba and other displaced students found ineffective in light of the long hours of electricity and internet outages, and the lack of access to computers for many families.
Heba fears for her children being outside all day in the heat of the sun and the spread of insects and reptiles in the rugged, mountainous area.
Statistics and figures
According to the Jenin Municipality, the Israeli military operation in Jenin camp has increased the unemployment rate in the city, as about 4,000 workers lost their source of income, while the city’s economy, which depends on shopping and trade, declined, and about 1,200 merchants went bankrupt and closed their shops, while Jenin lost the equivalent of 50 to 70,000 shoppers who came to the city from villages and the countryside every day.
The municipality confirms that the rate of displacement in Jenin has reached 25% of the city’s total population, as the occupation army forced 22,000 citizens to leave their homes in Jenin camp and its surroundings.
The city, which has witnessed 16 Israeli incursions over the past two years, is in a state of commercial stagnation and economic weakness, in addition to the destruction of its vital facilities and infrastructure. According to the Jenin municipality, nearly $300 million in economic losses have been calculated in the governorate since the start of the Israeli military operation “Iron Fence” on January 21.
In the absence of a radical solution from the Palestinian Authority (PA) in Ramallah, the situation of the displaced is getting worse by the day.
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2025-06-03 16:50:00
