Israel kills five Palestinians, including two teenagers, in Tulkarem, occupied West Bank
August is already one of the deadliest months, along with January, in the occupied Palestinian territory of the West Bank, with nearly fifty Palestinians killed in Israeli incursions – including two at the hands of settlers – and a main axis of action: the Palestinian city of Tulkarem. Last night, five more Palestinians, including two teenagers, died in the Nur Shams refugee camp, when an Israeli drone attacked the house where they were staying with two missiles.
“It was a terrifying night,” Ashraf, a resident of Nur Shams, told EFE. “I was awake and at first we heard two loud explosions and smoke covered everything. “The children started crying in fear and, after 10 minutes, we heard another loud explosion.” With their deaths, there are now 18 Palestinians murdered in Tulkarem, all by drones, in August alone; a figure that exceeds any other point in the occupied West Bank. And just like in Jenin, a historic center of armed resistance, so far a total of 80 Palestinians have died here in 2024, many of them militiamen, according to an EFE analysis based on data from the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
Tulkarem is regularly attacked by Israeli forces, and under the cover of the backstreets of Nur Shams, Palestinian militant groups remain very active, including Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, with youths willing to risk their lives to try to repel the entry of Israeli troops. The army said last night that the target of the attack was an “operations room” used by militants in the Nur Shams refugee camp, without giving further details. At least two of the deaths were claimed by Hamas's armed wing, the Al Qasam Brigade.
The Palestinian territory of the West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967, is experiencing its worst spiral of violence in two decades. And since the start of the war in Gaza in October, some 645 Palestinians have lost their lives, most in Israeli raids and at least a dozen at the hands of settlers. This morning, a 37-year-old Palestinian was killed south of Bethlehem, in the center of the West Bank, during a clash with settlers and Israeli troops. (EFE)