RAMALLAH, April 3, 2011 (WAFA) - Palestinians marked Sunday the ninth anniversary of the Jenin refugee camp battle when a large Israeli army force raided the camp after a fierce battle with local armed groups that left 23 Israeli soldiers dead.

The Israeli army retaliated brutally, killing more than 55 Palestinians, some of them civilians, destroyed more than a quarter of the camp where some people were buried alive, according to eyewitness stories.

The Israeli military operation was part of the so-called Defensive Shield where the Israeli army reoccupied all West Bank cities declared as Area A in response to the second Palestinian intifada, which broke out in September 2000 following the failure of peace talks.

More than 30,000 Israeli soldiers were deployed in the West Bank during this operation launched at the end of March 2002 starting with the army takeover of Ramallah and besieging former President Yasser Arafat in the muqata. Israel also heavily used its air force in this operation.

Following the army operation in Jenin refugee camp, Israel sealed off the camp preventing journalists and human rights organizations from entering the camp to monitor Israeli atrocities, which became evident after the army pulled out of the camp days later.

According to Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, 4,000 Palestinians were rendered homeless as a result of the Israeli incursion. HRW listed 140 buildings, which housed multiple families, as completely destroyed, 200 other buildings as sustaining damage rendering them uninhabitable.

Operation Defensive Shield began on March 29 with an incursion into Ramallah, followed by Tulkarem and Qalqilya on April 1, Bethlehem on April 2, Jenin and Nablus on April 3. The operation ended on April 18 when the Israeli troops began their withdrawal from the cities.

Jenin refugee camp was established in 1951 on land that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) leased from the Jordanian government. It covers an area of 0.423 square kilometers. Most of the camp residents come from the Carmel mountains and Haifa region.

Y.Y./M.A.