West Bank: Israeli Assault on Tulkarm Continues for 48th Day

West Bank: Israeli Assault on Tulkarm Continues for 48th Day

West Bank: Israeli Assault on Tulkarm Continues for 48th Day
Occupied West Bank (Quds News Network)- Israeli occupation forces continue their assault on Tulkarm city and its camp for 48 consecutive days, displacing residents, killing civilians, arresting others, and causing widespread destruction. According to the Media Committee in Tulkarm, the Nur Shams camp has also been under Israeli assault for 35 consecutive days. The Israeli occupation forces continue to force residents out of the Tulkarm camp, with residents of the Al-Murabba neighborhood being displaced from their homes at gunpoint. They also raided the Abu al-Foul and Qaqoun neighborhoods, tearing down doors, causing destruction inside, and transforming the homes into military barracks. The number of displaced people from the Nur Shams and Tulkarm camps has risen, exceeding 24,000, as Israeli forces forcibly displaced residents from more homes and neighborhoods in the camps. The displaced people are currently seeking refuge in shelters and towns within the city. The Committee reported that Israeli forces opened fire on an ambulance while it was evacuating a patient from the camp on Saturday morning. Israeli forces blew up a gate of the Al-Nasr Mosque in the Nur Shams camp, conducted searches in the Al-Mahjar neighborhood under heavy gunfire, and set fire to Yasser Maqbil's house in the Al-Manshiya neighborhood. During a raid on homes in the Al-Muqataa neighborhood in the Tulkarm camp, Israeli soldiers mistreated several residents, severely beating a man and his son. They were held for more than 12 hours before being released, the Committee said. In the vicinity of the camps, the forces set up mobile checkpoints to restrict the movement of the residents. The ongoing aggression on the city and camps has led to the killing of 13 people, including a child and two women, one of whom was eight months pregnant. Dozens have been injured and arrested, while more than 12,000 people have been forcibly displaced from both the Nur Shams and Tulkarm camps. The Israeli army launched a wide-scale assault on the northern West Bank cities of Jenin and Tulkarm in January. According to the UN, the operation has displaced over 40,000 Palestinians. Last month, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz declared that 40,000 Palestinians forcibly displaced by Israeli troops from the Jenin, Tulkarm, and Nur Shams refugee camps would not be allowed to return. He ordered Israeli forces to remain in the area for at least a year. Since 7 October 2023, the Israeli army and settlers have intensified attacks in the West Bank, leaving around 930 Palestinians killed, 7,000 wounded and 14,500 arrested.