Israeli Occupation Forces Retreat from Tulkarm Following Intense Clashes with Resistance
After a military operation lasting about 7 hours, the Israeli occupation army withdrew from the city of Tulkarm and the nearby Nur Shams refugee camp in the northern West Bank, leaving significant destruction in the city's and camp's infrastructure.
Military bulldozers destroyed main roads and damaged water and sewage networks, uprooting electricity poles in the process.
The occupation's bulldozers also sealed off the entrances to the nearby Aktaba suburb, adjacent to the Nur Shams camp, with earth mounds. Snipers from the occupation were deployed atop several buildings, while drones flew at low altitudes over the camp's skies.
The Israeli army worked to isolate several neighborhoods within the camp and began searching dozens of homes, interrogating residents, and turning high-rise buildings into military barracks.
Resistance Confrontation
The Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), stated that their fighters confronted the Israeli occupation forces and their apparatuses during their raid on the Nur Shams camp in Tulkarm.
They added that their fighters, alongside other factions, engaged in fierce clashes against the invading forces, leading to the latter's retreat after incurring direct injuries.
The Saraya al-Quds Brigade – "Tulkarm Battalion" asserted that their fighters detonated a heavy explosive device against a type "D9" bulldozer, resulting in its direct hit and complete incapacitation.
This invasion is the second in Tulkarm and the Nur Shams camp within less than 72 hours. On January 9, the occupation had raided the city and camp, bulldozing infrastructure and shelling civilian homes.
A moment captured of an explosive device detonation targeting an Israeli military vehicle at Nur Shams camp in the city of Tulkarm in the West Bank.#Gaza_War #video
— Al Jazeera 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' predawn raid today on the town of Silat al-Harithiya, west of Jenin.
The young man sustained injuries during confrontations with the occupation forces following their incursion into the village. The two youngsters were detained after their homes were raided, searched, and their contents destroyed by the occupation.
The occupation forces also stormed several areas in the Nablus governorate, invading Asker Old and New refugee camps and the public housing area east of the city, searching a number of homes without reports of arrests.
Forces of the occupation entered the village of Azzmut and the town of Beit Furik east of Nablus, as well as the village of Yatma to the south. Clashes erupted between villagers and occupation forces in Beit Furik, while soldiers raided numerous 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, increasing the frequency of incursions and raids into cities, towns, and camps. This has resulted in the martyrdom of 343 Palestinians and the injury of approximately 3950, with 5810 arrests in the West Bank alone, according to official sources.
