Richard Medhurst Profile picture
Independent journalist. British 🇬🇧 Based at UN 🇺🇳 Lived around the world 🌍. International affairs, US politics and Middle East. ✉️ richimedhurst@gmail.com

Jun 19, 2023, 16 tweets

🧵THREAD: Israel humiliated this morning in Jenin.

Israel launched what it thought would be a regular assault on the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank.

They were in for a big surprise:

Palestinian fighters destroyed 7 israeli armored vehicles. You can see many of them immobile, and pinned down in this video.

Israel had to send in tractors to tow away the column of decimated trucks, jeeps and armored personnel carriers (APCs).
Look carefully behind the tree, and you can see a tractor towing another israeli vehicle away, while taking fire from Jenin fighters.

Watch how one israeli vehicle after the other is destroyed by Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), detonated remotely by the Palestinian resistance fighters.

Another israeli vehicle hit by an IED.

A third israeli vehicle blown up by an improvised explosive device.

A fourth israeli vehicle is completely decimated by an IED, courtesy of the al Quds Brigade (PIJ). Go to the 0:14 mark.

Israel are taking such heavy losses on the ground, that they send in an attack helicopter-- their first time in 20 years.

Watch as the isareli aircraft begins popping its flares. These countermeasures are usually deployed to confuse homing and heat-seeking surface to air missiles (SAMs). This could very well mean that Jenin's fighters are using complex SAM systems, e.g. Stingers.

Another helicopter arrives to evacuate israeli casualties from Jenin.

Israel towing yet another of its destroyed vehicles.

Israel is claiming it suffered only 7 injuries and no deaths. This is an astonishing claim, and very hard to believe, given the humiliation it suffered this morning-- one comparable to that of the 2006 war in Lebanon.

Today marks a new era for the Palestinian fighters of Jenin, as they employ fresh tactics against israeli attacks. The use of IEDs on the battlefield hasn't been seen since the 2nd Intifada.

The people of Jenin gathered the remnants of israel's vehicles-- wheels, tires, and chunks of twisted metal-- and paraded them around town in a victory march.

More images of the parade in Jenin after israel's defeat.

As usual, the casualty rate is disproportionate, with Palestinians suffering the majority of casualties: 5 killed (all teenagers and in their 20s), along with 90+ wounded, 23 of which are in "critical to severe condition" (CNN/Palestinian Health Ministry).

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