TULKARM – An Israeli army raid continues on the occupied West Bank city of Tulkarm and the Nour Shams refugee camp, where local media has reported a “tight siege” and soldiers firing randomly at local residents, reported AFP.
Soldiers “are firing randomly at everything that moves in the camp,” a local correspondent told the official Wafa news agency from Nour Shams, where Israeli forces continue to besiege the Shahid Thabet and Israa Specialised hospitals.
Snipers have been deployed to the roofs of buildings across the camp and Tulkarm city, with drones flying at low altitudes, homes raided and searched, and shells fired at residential buildings.
Twelve people were killed, at least 26 wounded, and 30 arrested in a large-scale army operation in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, with raids reported in Tulkarm, Tubas and Jenin.Disabled Palestinian shot dead by sniper in Nour Shams refugee camp.
A disabled man was killed in his home in a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, as the Israeli army launched a large-scale raid and ordered residents to leave.
Ayed Mahmoud Nimer Abu Al Haija, 62, was shot by sniper in Nour Shams refugee camp, near the city of Tulkarm, the official Palestinian Wafa news agency reported, citing local sources.
His whereabouts had been unknown until his family returned home to find him “covered in blood”, reported Wafa.
He was one of 12 people killed across the occupied West Bank on Wednesday.
Ambulance crews were unable to remove his body amid a continued siege on the camp. The Israeli army issued a forced displacement order giving residents four hours to move out.
Palestinian dies of wounds after Israeli raid on Jenin
An Israeli military vehicle is seen during a raid in Jenin in the occupied West Bank on August 28.
A Palestinian man died overnight of wounds sustained in raid by the Israeli army on the occupied West Bank city of Jenin on Wednesday, the official Palestinian Wafa news agency reported.
Firas Bassam Alaqma, 35, a member of the Palestinian Authority’s security force, was shot and critically wounded in Jenin’s Al Hadaf neighbourhood. He was pronounced dead at the Ibn Sina Hospital in Jenin.
His death takes to 12 the number of Palestinians killed in Jenin, Tulkarm and Tubas on Wednesday.
More than 20 people were wounded, according to Wafa, as Israel launched a large-scale attack on the occupied West Bank.
These prompted widespread condemnation, including from the UN and neighbouring Jordan.
UN chief calls for immediate stop in Israeli operations in West Bank
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday said he was “deeply concerned” about Israeli military action in the West Bank and demanded “an immediate cessation of these operations”.
The Israeli army overnight announced a large military operation in Jenin, Tulkarm and Tubas of the occupied West Bank, with orders of forced evictions and some deaths reported by Palestinian health officials.
“He calls on Israel to comply with its relevant obligations under international humanitarian law and to take measures to protect civilians and ensure their safety,” Mr Guterres’s spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.
“He urges security forces to exercise maximum restraint and use lethal force only when it is strictly unavoidable to protect life.”
In reference to reports of limited access to health care, Mr Dujarric said: “All those injured must have access to medical care, and humanitarian workers must be able to reach everyone in need.
“These dangerous developments are fueling an already explosive situation in the occupied West Bank and further undermining the Palestinian Authority.”
Mr Guterres insisted that “only an end to the occupation and a return to a meaningful political process that will establish a two-state solution will bring an end to the violence,” Mr Dujarric said.
