Seven Palestinians killed in latest Israeli raids in occupied West Bank

Seven Palestinians were killed during major attacks by Israeli forces on towns in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, with reports that bulldozers razed buildings and homes during clashes with local armed groups.

Israeli vehicles and bulldozers stormed the city and camp of Tulkarm overnight on Monday and into Tuesday for a large-scale ten-hour raid, which saw fighting break out between local armed groups and the Israeli army as drones flew overhead.

Five people were killed by an Israeli drone strike on Tuesday, including two women, as well as two senior commanders from Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade and Al-Qassam Brigades, according to local reports.

A further two Palestinian men were killed by Israeli gunfire in the town of Sa’ir near Hebron during separate raids and assaults on the town.

Israeli forces destroyed buildings and homes in Tulkarm with reports that the military confiscated the bodies of killed people and transported them in a bulldozer, according to The New Arab's Arabic language sister site Al-Araby Al-Jadeed,

Battles between members of the Tulkarm Brigade, a local armed faction and Israeli forces raged for hours, according to local reports. 

Footage shared online allegedly showed an Israeli military bulldozer carrying the body of one of the dead Palestinians. The New Arab was not able to independently verify the video.

A correspondent from Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that the bulldozer "abused the martyrs and carried them to a place outside the camp".

Ashraf Nafi,the commander of Hamas’s military wing the al-Qassam Brigades; Muhammad Awad, the commander of Fatah’s military wing Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades; and militant Muhammed Badie were killed by the drone strike in Tulkarm, Palestinian media reported.

The two groups have not yet commented on the reported deaths.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said its teams treated three injured women during the raid in Tulkarm, and that Israeli forces were obstructing access for their ambulances to reach the wounded.

قوات الاحتلال تنكل بجثامين شهداء في طولكرم... جرافة عسكرية اختطفت
جثامين الشهداء إلى جهة مجهولة#فلسطين #طولكرم #مخيم_طولكرم #هنا_المملكة pic.twitter.com/mPHwgnJ3B0

— قناة المملكة (@AlMamlakaTV) July 23, 2024

More than 150,000 Palestinian refugees live in the Tulkarm refugee camp, which is the second largest in the West Bank and was established in the wake of the 1948 Nakba.

The outbreak of the Gaza war in October has seen tensions surge in the occupied West Bank with Israeli forces conducting near-daily raids which often snowball into hours-long gun battles and arrests.

Five Palestinians were killed last week by an Israeli strike on Nur Shams camp, which has been at the epicentre of violent raids for months.

Earlier this week, Israel's domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet said it had foiled a Palestinian plot to kidnap Israelis orchestrated by a West Bank militia group.

Israel's right-wing government has empowered Israeli settler groups on Palestinian territory who have conducted violent assaults on Palestinian families and farmers, alongside government-authorised land grabs and new legislation to expand settlements.

Between 7 October, when the Gaza war began, and 15 July, 554 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, by Israeli military or settler attacks, according to figures from the UN's OCHA agency.

A total of 143 Palestinian children have been killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since October last year, according to UN children’s agency UNICEF.

Over 1,000 Palestinians have been displaced by Israeli policies in the West Bank, whether through the destruction of property or after being pushed out by violent settler assaults.

The UN’s top court, the International Court of Justice last week ruled that Israel’s 57-year occupation of Palestinian territory was unlawful and found that Israel was "under an obligation to cease immediately all new settlement activities and to evacuate all settlers".

The landmark ruling was hailed by Palestinian officials.