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Israel continues military offensive in Tulkarm for fifth consecutive day

January 31, 2025 at 3:56 pm

Palestinian journalists take images of an Israeli army bulldozer tearing down a street during a raid in Tulkarem in the Israel-occupied West Bank on January 28, 2025 [JAAFAR ASHTIYEH/AFP via Getty Images]

Israeli occupation forces continued their military operation in the city and refugee camp of Tulkarm for the fifth consecutive day, reported Wafa news agency. The assault has included widespread demolitions of Palestinian homes and infrastructure, imposing significant damage to public and private Palestinian properties.

This morning, Israeli troops arrested five young men after besieging two homes in different parts of the city. The raids were accompanied by heavy gunfire and the persistent presence of low-flying reconnaissance drones.

Moreover, according to Wafa, Israeli soldiers surrounded a residence in the Al-Muhandisin Housing area east of Tulkarm, using loudspeakers to order the occupants to surrender. At the same time, an Israeli military unit, supported by armoured vehicles, encircled another home in the southern part of the city.

In the besieged Tulkarm Refugee Camp, Israeli troops detonated several homes after forcibly evacuating Palestinian residents at gunpoint. Loud explosions echoed throughout the camp, accompanied by the burning of makeshift tents and structures.

Meanwhile, Israeli Occupation forces maintained their siege of Thabet Thabet Government Hospital and Al-Israa Specialist Hospital, seizing nearby high-rise commercial buildings and obstructing the movement of ambulances and medical personnel. Medical staff was subjected to searches and field interrogations.

Journalists and reporters attempting to cover the events have also been attacked with sound bombs and shells, leaving the Palestinian journalist, Nagham Al-Zayt, wounded by shrapnel.

Israeli attacks on the Occupied West Bank are going to deepen suffering and violence against Palestinians, a group of UN Special Rapporteurs and independent experts warned on Monday.

“We are dismayed by the escalation of deadly violence sweeping through Jenin and the rest of the Occupied West Bank,” the experts said. “Israel’s repression seems to have no end in sight.”

“The Israeli government must instruct its military and security forces to immediately cease any use of excessive force and exercise restraint and withdraw its troops from the Occupied West Bank, as ordered by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in July 2024,” they added.

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