6 days ago
Israeli forces escalate raids in Tulkarm, al-Khalil, Beit Lahm
The Israeli occupation intensified its repressive measures against residents of Tulkarm refugee camp on Wednesday, targeting Palestinians attempting to collect their belongings from homes marked for demolition. The escalation is part of the occupation's ongoing assault on the city of Tulkarm and its camp, now in its 157th consecutive day.
On Tuesday, the Israeli occupation forces issued demolition orders for 104 homes and buildings in Tulkarm camp under the pretext of 'military purposes.' Residents were given a 72-hour window, starting Wednesday, to vacate their properties.
Simultaneously, a suffocating siege remains in place around Nur Shams refugee camp, now in its 144th day, with military patrols and armored vehicles stationed throughout alleyways and camp entrances.
The ongoing aggression has so far led to the martyrdom of 13 Palestinians, including a child and two women. It has also resulted in widespread destruction of infrastructure, homes, shops, and civilian vehicles.
Over 5,000 families have been forcibly displaced from the two camps, while more than 600 homes have been entirely demolished. The camps' entrances remain sealed off, turning both areas into nearly lifeless zones under siege.
Israeli forces stormed a kindergarten on Martyrs' Street in al-Khalil on Wednesday, detaining more than 70 Palestinian children and assaulting the teaching staff.
In Beit Lahm, occupation forces raided al-Khader town, focusing their operations in the Umm Rukba area south of the town, where they broke into and searched a local home.
The intensifying military campaign across the occupied West Bank reflects the broader pattern of collective punishment and displacement exercised by the Israeli regime amid its ongoing war on Gaza and crackdown on resistance across Palestine.
Israeli occupation forces and settlers launched a wide-ranging escalation across several areas of the northern occupied West Bank on Saturday, carrying out detentions, violent assaults, and road closures, particularly in and around the city of Nablus.
In the village of Urif, south of Nablus, Israeli forces detained the parents of martyr Muhannad Shahada, one of the Palestinians involved in the recent 'Eli operation, as well as his brother Ihab Shahada, who was arrested from his workplace inside the territories occupied since 1948. The move is part of the occupation's policy of targeting relatives of Palestinian fighters.
Elsewhere, in the village of Tell, southwest of Nablus, Israeli forces arrested a young man named Mahmoud Asida during a dawn raid. Later in the day, the village came under attack by dozens of Israeli settlers, who raided the Kafrour area under the protection of occupation soldiers.
Read more: 'Israel' killed 16,800+ students in Gaza, West Bank since Oct. 2023
Palestinian youth confronted the settler assault, triggering fierce confrontations, which saw Israeli soldiers fire live ammunition at local residents, amid a state of high tension and mass mobilization in the village of Tell.
Meanwhile, settlers gathered at an entrance to Nablus, demanding what they called 'permanent control' over Joseph's Tomb—a move widely condemned as a deliberate provocation and part of broader efforts to impose new settlement realities in the occupied West Bank.
Read more: Israeli forces storm West Bank towns, shut down Christian sites
In a further escalation, Israeli forces also stormed the town of Aqaba, north of Tubas, and later raided the city of Tubas, expanding their military operations beyond the Nablus region.
