A Palestinian youth was martyred by Israeli forces during their raid on the Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarm, raising the death toll to six since yesterday amidst continuous invasions of Palestinian cities and camps. The number of detainees in the West Bank has surged to 6,090 Palestinians detained since October 7, 2023, the date marking the intensification of the occupation’s raids in several areas.
Israeli forces, for the second consecutive day, stormed Tulkarm and its camp, dispatching military reinforcements to the city at dawn. Operations were expanded amid sounds of armed clashes and sporadic explosions.
Amidst these events, Palestinian medical sources confirmed that seven young men were injured by occupation gunfire in the Al-Amari camp in Ramallah, while Al Jazeera’s correspondent reported that the occupation forces interrogated hundreds of the camp’s residents, imposed a siege from all directions, raided several neighborhoods, and clashed with Palestinian resistance fighters before subsequently withdrawing.
The occupation forces also stormed the town of Bani Na’im, east of Hebron, sending in military reinforcements, and soldiers, including snipers, occupied the rooftops in the center of the town. Clashes erupted with Palestinian youths, leading to one being shot in the foot by live ammunition and subsequently hospitalized.
Concurrently, as the raid occurred, a protest march flooded the streets of the town to denounce the actions of the occupation forces. The incursion into Bani Na’im comes after another raid carried out by Israel yesterday morning, during which homes of individuals involved in the Tel Aviv Ranaana operation, which resulted in the death of an Israeli and injured 18 others, were targeted and the perpetrators, who belong to the Ziadat family in Bani Na’im, were arrested.
Additionally, Al Jazeera’s reporter noted that the series of raids included Al-Arroub refugee camp to the south of the occupied West Bank and the northern city of Qalqilya.
Nablus, to the north of the West Bank, faced raids from its eastern and western axes, with Israeli forces patrolling the city.
The occupation forces had stormed Zawata (west of Nablus) and raided several neighborhoods in the town, which led to armed clashes involving bright bombs illuminating the sky, homemade explosives launched at Israeli vehicles which retaliated with live ammunition and sound and gas bombs.
Journalistic coverage: Continuous arrest campaign in Tulkarm camp.
— Quds News Network (@qudsn) January 18, 2024
Ongoing Arrests
Today, the number of detainees in the West Bank rose to 6,090 since the onset of the ‘Aqsa Flood’ operation on October 7, 2023, after the occupation arrested 60 Palestinians last night, including children and former prisoners, according to Anadolu Agency, citing a joint statement from the Prisoners’ Affairs Authority and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club.
The statement detailed that the arrests included those taken from their homes, at military checkpoints, and those compelled to surrender under pressure, noting that the arrests were concentrated in Hebron and Bethlehem in the southern West Bank, extending to Ramallah, Nablus, Tulkarm, and Jerusalem.
Assassinations and Security Warnings
Yesterday, five Palestinians were martyred in a strike by an Israeli drone on a vehicle in Tulkarm refugee camp, northern West Bank. The Palestinian Red Crescent confirmed injuries to two of its crew members when an Israeli military ambulance was targeted in the camp.
In Nablus, the Israeli military assassinated five Palestinians by drone-striking their vehicle. Palestinian medical sources stated that the occupation forces retained the bodies of several martyrs who were inside the targeted vehicle near Balata camp east of Nablus, and charred remains of one martyr reached Rafidia Hospital in Nablus after Israel prevented ambulances from approaching the targeted vehicle.
While the Israeli military continues its incursions and escalations in the occupied West Bank, “Haaretz,” an Israeli newspaper, cited security officials describing the situation as “on the verge of explosion.”
Since the launch of the Palestinian resistance’s ‘Aqsa Flood’ and the beginning of the Israeli aggression on Gaza, the occupation has intensified military operations in the West Bank, increasing the pace of invasions, raids on cities, towns, and refugee camps, resulting in more than 365 martyrs and nearly 4,200 injuries, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The ongoing Israeli war on the Gaza Strip for over 100 days has left more than 24,000 martyrs, 61,000 injured, and caused more than 85% of the territory’s residents (around 1.9 million people) to be displaced, in addition to extensive damage to infrastructure, vital facilities, and hospitals.
