The month of July was marked by a large-scale Israeli attack on Jenin refugee camp, displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and attempts to reignite Palestinian reconciliation as rivalry in Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp sparked violence.
On 3 July Israeli forces began a 48-hour assault and siege on Jenin refugee camp. The attack began with 10 airstrikes on the camp followed by a ground invasion of more than 1,000 soldiers. During the two-day assault, 12 Palestinians were killed, including 5 children, and more than 143 Palestinians were injured. About 3,500 Palestinians were temporarily displaced during the attack; house damage caused the displacement of 181. Israeli forces deliberately damaged infrastructure, bulldozing 2.4 miles of roads and damaging water and sewage pipelines, 4 UNRWA schools, a health clinic, and the Holy Redeemer Church. UN Secretary-General António Guterres called the Israeli destruction the worst in the West Bank in years and demanded that Israel, as the occupying power, protect civilians. Throughout the West Bank and Israel, 27 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces during the month of July.
The Israeli attack also prompted criticism of the PA’s role in the West Bank. Three PA officials were forced to leave the camp during funeral procession on 5 July. Palestinians were dismayed that the PA did not intervene to protect the camps residents. Islamic Jihad and the Jenin Brigades condemned the PA for carrying out arrests of the groups’ members. The PA arrest of Islamic Jihad members prompted the party to boycott a reconciliation summit in Egypt.
The reconciliation summit proceeded in El Alamein, Egypt, despite the Islamic Jihad boycott. Before the summit PA President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh met with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara on 26 July. The summit in El Alamein on 30 July resulted in the formation of a committee to continue dialogue focused on reconciliation. As the Palestinian political factions met in Egypt, fighting between Fatah forces and the Shabab al-Muslim coalition of Islamic militant groups unfolded in the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp in Lebanon. An assassination attempt on Mahmoud Khalil of Shabab al-Muslim on 29 July led to violence and within two days 11 Palestinians were killed, including Fatah commander Ashraf al-Armouchi (who was in charge of security in the camp), and more than 40 were injured.
Israeli settlers displaced Palestinian Bedouin communities in al-Baqa‘a and a Palestinian family in the Old City of Jerusalem. Since the beginning of 2023, the Israeli government has allowed unprecedented expansion of Israeli settlement outposts and at times encouraged Israeli settlers to continue building outposts, which have led to an increase in settler attacks on Palestinians. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs counted 593 incidents of settler attacks on Palestinians and their property during the first half of 2023, compared to 856 during all of 2022. As a result of these attacks, 132 Palestinians were forced to flee their homes in Ein Samia in May, and 36 Palestinians fled their homes in al-Baqa’a on 10 July after an arson attack on a home where 2 people were inside. The remaining 2 families in al-Baqa‘a fled their homes on 28 July, leaving only the settlement outpost where the Palestinian community was located.
Israeli forces and settlers also displaced the Sub Laban family from their home in the Old City of Jerusalem on 11 July. The family, which had lived in their apartment since 1953, was replaced by Israeli settlers as part of the Israeli efforts to Judaize East Jerusalem.