Down’s Syndrome man and his mother wounded by shrapnel in Israeli drone strike

A Palestinian man with Down’s Syndrome and his mother have been badly wounded by shrapnel in an Israeli drone strike on an occupied West Bank refugee camp, Wafa has reported. Hassan Muhammad Hamdan, 30, and his mother, 57-year-old Siham Hamdan, suffered head injuries and were taken to Martyr Thabet Governmental Hospital by a Palestine Red Crescent Society ambulance.

According to Faisal Salama, the head of the Popular Committee for Services in Tulkarm Camp, the Israeli drone strike targeted Palestinian residents in the camp’s central services neighbourhood, wounding five people, including Hassan and his mother. Salama described the situation in the camp as “a fierce war,” with Israeli forces launching a heavy and indiscriminate assault. Drones have been circling since the beginning of the raid, adding to the intensity of the attack.

Israeli soldiers in bulldozers raided the camp, focusing on the neighbourhoods of Al-Muqata’a, Al-Balawneh, Al-Madaris and Hanoun Square. They destroyed homes and blocked the entrances to homes and shops with large mounds of dirt.

Snipers have been stationed high on buildings throughout the camp and surrounding areas, firing live rounds at anyone moving below, reported Wafa. Israeli troops also raided several homes and entered Al-Shuhada Mosque in the Al-Murabba’a neighbourhood.

While no detentions have been reported so far, Israeli army reinforcements have been deployed to Tulkarm and Nour Shams camps, which are now under siege. It has been reported that one young Palestinian man has been killed in Nur Shams camp.

At least 763 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 6,300 others wounded by Israeli occupation army fire in the occupied West Bank since October last year, according to the Health Ministry.

READ: Israel occupation forces kill yet another young Palestinian in West Bank