Air strike in West Bank’s Tulkarem
Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic are reporting that Israeli forces have carried out an air strike on Tulkarem refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.
Five killed from Tulkarem attack: Report
The Israeli air raid on Tulkarem refugee camp has killed five people and wounded others, according to the Palestinian Wafa news agency. At least one strike hit a crowded cafe in the camp, causing the casualties, Wafa reports.
Israel’s military confirmed it carried out an attack in Tulkarem in a post on X, calling it a joint operation with the country’s Shin Bet security service.
Footage verified by Al Jazeera’s Sanad fact-checking agency shows scenes of devastation in the camp, with massive piles of wreckage and fires breaking out. Rescuers could be seen rushing bloodied victims to receive medical care.
A destroyed restaurant in the West Bank refugee camp of Nur Shams, during the Israeli army operation in Tulkarem on Thursday
Death toll from Israeli strike on Tulkarem rises to 14
We are hearing of at least 14 Palestinians who have been killed, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. The body parts of those killed are being collected. Some are being brought to hospitals in boxes.
Israel’s military confirmed they used a fighter jet to carry out the air strike. They very rarely use fighter jets in the occupied West Bank. They usually use drones or helicopters. The idea of a fighter jet carrying out this strike is quite shocking given the series of events that is happening elsewhere throughout the Middle East.
This are now 737 Palestinians in the West Bank who have been killed by Israeli forces since the war began.
Tulkarem death toll rises to 16
Sixteen people have now been confirmed killed by Israel’s aerial attack on Tulkarem refugee camp, according to the Palestinian health ministry. It is unclear how many were wounded. Many of the casualties have been brought to Tulkarm Governmental Hospital.
Death toll in Israel’s Tulkarem attack rises again
Our colleagues on the ground in the occupied West Bank now say that 18 people were killed in Israel’s attack on a cafe in the Tulkarem refugee camp. This is according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
Israel carries out deadliest airstrike on occupied West Bank in over 20 years
Even by the standards of the Second Intifada, this was a very large, very deadly strike on a densely populated, impoverished refugee camp.
The targets of the attack are the leader of the Hamas military wing as well as the leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad military wing, in addition to other fighters and people who live in the area, including an entire family.
The information is still coming in because hospitals have been overwhelmed. An entire building was levelled, and the paramedics are still struggling to make sure that they’ve recovered all bodies and that there are no survivors under the rubble.
It is, for lack of a better word, overkill.
It’s just a reminder to all people in the occupied West Bank, to the fighters who are being pursued there, of Israel’s superior military power, its lethal, potent ability to exact not just death but massive destruction.
And this is happening while the world is paying attention elsewhere.
And in many ways, this kind of brings back what many have described, including the UN secretary-general, as a silent war on the occupied West Bank, while eyes are on Gaza. Eyes are on Lebanon, on Iran, and even on Syria, sometimes, but a lot is happening in the occupied West Bank, including the strategic takeover of land there.
Israeli military claims it killed Hamas leader in West Bank
The Israeli military said that it killed Zahi Yaser Abd al-Razeq Oufi, an alleged Hamas leader in the occupied West Bank, following a deadly strike in the Tulkarem refugee camp.
Earlier, we reported that at least 18 people were killed after Israeli fighter jets bombed a crowded cafe in Tulkarem, in the deadliest strike by a warplane in the occupied West Bank for more than two decades.
A spokesman for the Palestine Liberation Organization, Rawhi Fattouh, condemned the attack, saying it won’t “bring security and stability to anyone, but will drag the region into more violence”, the WAFA news agency reports.
Fattouh called the attack a “bloody, criminal aggression”, adding the “cold-blooded execution of civilians is a war crime, mass murder, and a flagrant violation of international and humanitarian laws”.
🚨An Israeli fighter jet carried out an air strike in the Occupied West Bank City of Tulkarem.
At least 14 Palestinians have been killed.
This is the first time since the Second Intifada a fighter jet bombed Tulkarem. pic.twitter.com/ojcYk5AlwY
— Hamdah Salhut (@hamdahsalhut) October 3, 2024
