The Israeli occupation army withdrew from the city of Tulkarm and the Nour Shams camp in the northern West Bank after a military operation that lasted for about 7 hours, leaving major destruction to the infrastructure of the city and the camp.
Military bulldozers destroyed main streets, damaged water and sewage networks, and uprooted electricity poles.
The occupation bulldozers closed the entrances to the Aktaba suburb near Nour Shams camp with earth mounds, and the occupation deployed snipers in several buildings, while drones flew in the skies of the camp at a low altitude.
The Israeli army worked to separate a number of the camp’s neighborhoods, and began searching dozens of homes, subjecting their residents to interrogation, and turning high-rise buildings into military barracks.
The resistance fights back
The Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), said that its fighters confronted the Israeli occupation forces and vehicles as they stormed the Nour Shams camp in Tulkarm.
It added that its fighters, along with other factions, engaged in violent clashes against the forces that stormed the camp, which led to their retreat after causing direct casualties.
The Al-Quds Brigades – “Tulkarm Brigade” confirmed that its fighters detonated a heavy explosive device with one of the “D9” bulldozers, which led to its direct injury and permanent damage.
It is noteworthy that this is the second incursion into Tulkarm and Nour Shams camp in less than 72 hours. The occupation had raided the city and the camp on January 9, bulldozing the infrastructure and bombing citizens’ homes.
The moment an explosive device was detonated by an Israeli military vehicle in the Nour Shams camp in the city of Tulkarm in the West Bank#Gaza_War #video pic.twitter.com/QE7xOSG5Im
– Tel Aviv Tribune Palestine (@AJA_Palestine) January 12, 2024
Arrests and raids
In a related context, a young man was injured and two others were arrested during the occupation forces’ storming of the town of Silat al-Harithiya, west of Jenin, at dawn on Friday.
The young man was injured during confrontations with the occupation forces after they stormed the village. The occupation forces arrested the two young men after raiding their homes, searching them, and destroying their contents.
The occupation forces also stormed several areas in Nablus Governorate, where they stormed the old and new Askar camps and the popular housing area east of the city, and searched a number of homes, but no arrests were reported.
The occupation forces stormed the village of Azmut and the town of Beit Furik, east of Nablus, and the village of Yatma in the south. Confrontations broke out between the villagers and the occupation forces in Beit Furik, while the occupation soldiers raided many homes in the village.
Since the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, the occupation has intensified its military operations in the West Bank, and increased the pace of incursions and raids into cities, towns, and camps, resulting in the martyrdom of 343 Palestinians, the injury of about 3,950, and the arrest of 5,810 in the West Bank alone, according to official sources.
