West Bank Raid: Israel Kills 2 Palestinians, Destroys Nur Shams Camp

Israeli forces raided the West Bank, killing at least two Palestinians and destroying the Nur Shams Camp.

One of the fatalities allegedly opened fire at Israeli soldiers in an illegal Jewish settlement in the area. The Palestinian Ministry of Health identified the man killed in Tulkarem as 21-year-old Ayed Samih Khaled Abu Harb. The ministry noted that the victim was shot in the head and that a funeral procession was held for him at 11:00 a.m.

Israeli West Bank Raid

Israeli forces with armored tractors stormed the overcrowded Nur Shams refugee camp from several fronts. The assault came at dawn and incited armed resistance from Palestinian fighters.

The Israeli forces bulldozed the road that led to the camp, which was only minutes away from Tulkarem city. They destroyed several homes and shops in the area as well as caused damage to various infrastructure before withdrawing after three hours from the beginning of the raid, as per Aljazeera.

The head of the camp's popular committee, Taha al-Irani, spoke from the camp on Tuesday and detailed the level of destruction and the shock of Abu Hard being killed while another man was injured. He said that the martyr, Ayed, was standing at his front door when Israeli forces killed him.

The 50-year-old al-Irani said the main road connecting the camp to other cities, including Tulkarem, Nablus, and Ramallah, was partially destroyed. The Nur Shams refugee camp was established in 1952 and is one of two camps located in Tulkarem. It was built to house Palestinian refugees from the Haifa area after the 1948 Nakba, or what is known as the ethnic cleansing of Palestine conducted by Zionist militias.

A 39-year-old supermarket owner, Mohammad Abu Talal, said the Israeli army entered with bulldozers and tractors. He added that they destroyed his shop and everything else in the area during the raid.

Palestinians Killed

The latest developments mark the latest violence in the West Bank during one of the most violent times of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the past two decades. In particular, according to the Associated Press, Israel has pressed on with near-nightly raids in the area while Palestinian militants have also ramped up shooting attacks against the former.

The Israeli army said that when they conducted the raid on the West Bank city of Tulkarem, they discovered and subsequently destroyed a stockpile of explosives. Video footage of the incident was shared by residents online and showed bulldozers ripping off all the asphalt on the main road of the camp.

The military also shared video footage of its own that showed a massive fireball engulfing a building. Security forces were dispatched shortly after the Israeli army received reports of a gunman opening fire toward a shopping mall in a Jewish settlement.

The Palestinian Health Ministry later identified 17-year-old Mohammed Zubaidat as a fatal victim of the Israeli military. Since the beginning of 2023, more than 30 people have been killed in Palestinian attacks against Israelis as the former's attacks have become more frequent because of the latter's intensifying raids in the West Bank, said Yahoo News.