Israeli army operation in West Bank’s Tulkarm ‘like a smaller-scale Gaza’

The Israeli military has expanded its operation, dubbed “Iron Wall”, from the West Bank’s Jenin refugee camp to Tulkram, further north in the occupied Palestinian territory. The IDF says it has found what it calls terrorist infrastructure in Tulkarm. But residents of the neighbourhood say only families live there, who are being unfairly targeted and inhumanely treated.

Under drone and sniper threat, Hussein Cheik Ali walks cautiously on a deserted dirt street, sticking close to house walls, to reach a spot where he can see the remains of his home in the West Bank town of Tulkarm.

“I want to go further, but I’m scared. They can see us, there are drones, we can hear them,” said the Tulkarm community leader.

The Tulkarm refugee camp is being targeted in the Israeli army’s ongoing operation, dubbed “Iron Wall”, in the West Bank.

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It makes no sense to the Palestinian families living there, many of whom have either fled their homes or live in fear of going outdoors as the deadly Israeli military operation continues.

Ali's sister, Um Samer, lost her son in the Israeli raid and says the latest military operation is the most brutal she has experienced in her hometown.

“This time it was different, more savage, like a smaller-scale Gaza…[there were] soldiers brought from Gaza to carry out the same destruction here in Tulkarm camp,” she said.

A nearby cemetery has been filling up rapidly since the raids began, she added. “Go look at the headstones, there are 108 graves. At the start [of the operation], there was only the grave of my son. Now they are everywhere. They are all youngsters, less than 22 or 23 years old.”


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