EU envoy slams Israeli raid on Jenin as foreign diplomats assess damage

A European envoy has blasted Israel over the "proportionality" of the force it uses, as international envoys toured Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank following this week's deadly raid.

On Saturday, European Union representative to the Palestinian territories Sven Kuehn von Burgsdorff said "the [Israeli] military assault on Jenin was painful" and a "violation of international law."

He made his comments as he led a delegation of UN officials and diplomats from at least 25 countries to the camp in the northern occupied West Bank.

"We are concerned about the deployment of weaponry and weapons systems which question the proportionality of the military during the operation," Kuehn von Burgsdorff said of the raid that killed 12 Palestinians and one Israeli soldier.

"This cycle of violence has to end, it cannot continue. If there is no political solution to the conflict, we are going to stand here in a week's time, in a month's time, in a year's time, with nothing changed," he added.

His remarks echoed the United Nations chief Antonio Guterres who told reporters "there was an excessive force used by Israeli forces" in its 48-hour operation, the largest Israel has staged in the Palestinian territory for years.

It included air strikes and armoured bulldozers ripping up streets.

Appeals for rebuilding funds

Jenin camp has been the site of several large-scale raids by the Israeli military this year, but this week's was the biggest such operation in the occupied West Bank since the second Palestinian "intifada" or uprising of the early 2000s.

In a visit organised by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) on Saturday, foreign diplomats met with locals and representatives of NGOs who told them about the situation in the camp following the Israeli assault.

Eight kilometres (five miles) of water pipes and three kilometres of sewage pipes were destroyed in the raid, the UN said. More than 100 houses were damaged and a number of schools were also damaged.

As the delegation toured the camp, residents peered out of holes left in the walls by Israeli rockets, and local authorities tested a new camp-wide alarm system to warn of future raids.

The European diplomat said the visit, aims to show solidarity with the civilian population in the Jenin camp, to see the damage that has occurred and to submit reports to their capitals on what happened in the city.

The refugee camp is one of the poorest and most densely populated in the occupied West Bank, with some 18,000 people living in just 0.43 square kilometres.

Also on Saturday, UN officials made a plea for funds to help rebuild the camp.

"To restore services and scale up support to the children, we need cash ... our appeal is desperately underfunded," Leni Stenseth, deputy commissioner-general of UNRWA said.