Drones fly overhead every minute in Burkin. The community of 8,000 is very close to the refugee camp in the city of Jenin, where the Israeli army is bulldozing and bombing streets and houses because it says it is fighting terrorists.
"The camp is no longer livable"
Thousands of residents of the camp in the northern West Bank have fled - like Maysun Nasharti. “Drones were flying over us. We were ordered to evacuate the refugee camp. "You have five minutes, an hour or two at most," the woman tells ARD.
"The camp is no longer suitable for living, it has suffered a lot from the bombings and fires. These are the remains of my house. The drones are like in Gaza," explains Maysoon, while showing evidence of the destruction with her phone.
The woman, who has six children, does not know what will happen from now on. She cannot take almost anything with her - not even their birth certificates. The mother and her six children have so far found refuge in the entrance lobby of the reception room of the mayor of Burkina Faso. "For the moment, we are protected here, but only God knows for how long." I don't have money to pay rent anywhere," Meysun told the German public-law media.
On the stone floor with other people's clothes
The mother and children are sweeping the stone floor, covered with mattresses on which they sleep. Next to them are their few belongings in plastic bags. 23 people have crowded into the hall, which is not heated in the middle of winter. And it is raining through the roof.
Meysun's youngest daughter is seven months old and suffers from a constant cold. Her ten-year-old son Ryan has nightmares, which he tells ARD about. “When the soldiers reached us, I was afraid they were going to shoot us. When we started to run, we saw blood on the ground. We ran and hid. "A drone followed us and flew over our heads," the boy says.
As he talks, another drone flies over the rooftops. Maysoon picks up Ryan. The mother is overwhelmed by the fact that her son is having panic attacks and starts crying all the time. "The beds are not clean, but we need them. We don't want to complain. But we don't have enough clothes, we wash them all the time. Ryan has to carry clothes for the elderly."
The municipality is exhausted
Many in the area are in the same situation as Maysoon. Because of the refugees, the number of residents of Burkina Faso has almost doubled, laments the mayor Hassan Subou. The new arrivals are 800 families - 6,000 people. The municipality is exhausted from taking care of them.
„20 days ago the military came here and killed two young men. They destroyed two houses“, the mayor tells ARD. „We don't let anyone sleep on the street. We are afraid, but there is nowhere to go. The Israelis are bombing houses and mosques, destroying everything to make us leave and say that we don't want to live here anymore. Nobody cares about the Palestinians - neither the Arab countries, nor Europe.“
Posters with the faces of the dead are plastered on the streets of Burkina Faso. Among them are photos of the murdered Hamas leader in Gaza - Yahya Sinwar. „Once, in my grandfather's time, young people threw stones to resist. Now the resistance has weapons. That's why the Israelis want the younger generation to forget Palestine," says Hassan Subu.
Fear of further military operations
He shows German journalists the street leading to the refugee camp - it has been bulldozed. The Israeli army searched for bombs there, damaging the city's water supply. To the left and right of the shopping street, huge holes gape in the walls. The army has bulldozed into the shops there. There is a pile of rubble in front of the pharmacy.
"When the bulldozer came, we ran away," says pharmacist Tara Amar. "The glass doors broke, the glass shattered on the medicines. If we take anything from the shelves now, we will cut ourselves. They crushed everything, but they didn't find any terrorism - These are stupid excuses.“
The Israeli army has been constantly publishing photos of weapons that were found in the Jenin refugee camp. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has announced that the army will remain in Jenin. That is why Mayor Subu is postponing reconstruction work in the area. He fears that the army will return, ARD writes.
Author: Bettina Meyer ARD