Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, centre, visits the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank on July 12, 2023, a week after a deadly Israeli offensive [Nasser Nasser/AP Photo]

Jenin, Occupied West Bank, July 13 (RHC)-- Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas has visited the Jenin refugee camp, a week after a 48-hour Israeli assault.   The official PA news agency, Wafa, said Abbas, who arrived by helicopter on Wednesday, made the visit “to check citizens’ conditions and progress in the reconstruction of the camp and the city following the last Israeli aggression.”

“The heroic Jenin camp stood against the aggression, sacrificed its casualties and offered all it has for the sake of the homeland,” Abbas said, promising that the camp would be rebuilt.  Members of Fatah, the party that Abbas leads, welcomed the president’s visit.

Nidal Nanaieh, a Fatah leader in the camp and a former fighter who took part in a 2002 battle with Israeli forces there, said Abbas’s visit was a “show of support” for the camp.  “This historic visit was made to show that all Palestinians are standing by the Jenin refugee camp and that there is a unified Palestinian stance,” Nanaieh told Al Jazeera.

Last week, Israeli forces launched the largest attack on the Jenin refugee camp since the 2002 battle. Drone-fired missiles and hundreds of soldiers pounded the camp for three days, killing 12 Palestinians, including three children.  More than 3,000 people fled their homes while dozens of houses were shelled, and widespread destruction was caused to roads and other infrastructure.