Israeli army storms 5 Palestinian camps in occupied West Bank, destroys infrastructure with bulldozers

Israeli forces stormed five Palestinian camps in the occupied West Bank in pre-dawn raids to arrest people that lasted until Sunday morning, destroying infrastructure with bulldozers and clashing with locals, injuring two people, Anadolu Agency reports.

The Israeli army raid, described by locals as one of the largest, was carried out on the camps of Tulkarm and Nur Shams, an Anadolu correspondent on the ground said.

Israeli soldiers record and publish new house demolitions least two Palestinians sustained minor injuries during the clashes, he added.

Israeli forces also stormed the Askar camp in Nablus, the Aqabat Jaber camp in Jericho, and the Fawwar camp south of Hebron.

Military vehicles accompanied by two bulldozers stormed Tulkarm and Nur Shams camps overnight, destroying their infrastructure, eyewitnesses told Anadolu, adding that snipers were also deployed on house roofs.

The witnesses said the army conducted searches and entered dozens of homes for apparent “investigations,” causing Palestinians to resist which led to clashes.

However, Palestinian groups announced that their fighters had targeted Israeli forces with bullets and explosive devices.

Meanwhile, Palestine TV reported that Israeli forces were “targeted at the entrance of the Tulkarm camp with a high-explosive bomb.”

The forces surrounded the vicinity of Thabet Governmental and Al-Israa Speciality hospitals, obstructing ambulances to work and preventing them from entering the Nur Shams camp, it added.

“An occupation drone launched two missiles into the central Nur Shams camp. The first resulted in minor and moderate injuries to two young men, while the second resulted in material damage,” the television report reported.

Israeli forces carried out “a massive campaign of arrests and field investigations with residents, especially with several martyrs’ families.”

READ: Israeli soldiers record and publish new house demolitions

Activists inside the camp shared videos on social media of infrastructure destruction and mass arrests of residents.

In the northern West Bank, the Israeli army stormed the Askar camp in the city of Nablus on Sunday morning, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS).

A source told Anadolu that the Israeli army stormed the Aqabat Jaber camp in the city of Jericho.

In the southern West Bank, an Israeli force stormed the Fawwar camp, south of Hebron, and raided the house of Ammar Abu Hussein, who was killed by Israeli soldiers for allegedly carrying out a car-ramming attack on Friday, which caused the injury of five soldiers.

Tensions have been high across the West Bank since fighting broke out in Gaza on 7 October between Palestinian groups and Israel.

With a total of 527 Palestinians killed in the West Bank so far this year, 2023 has been the deadliest year in the occupied territory on record, according to the UN agency for refugees.

READ: Israeli army conducts raids in West Bank, injuring, detaining Palestinians