Israeli Strikes Kill Seven In West Bank

Israeli strikes killed seven people in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, emergency services and the army said, as violence in the territory sees no let-up

Tulkarem, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th Jan, 2024) Israeli strikes killed seven people in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, emergency services and the army said, as violence in the territory sees no let-up.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said an Israeli strike killed four people inside Tulkarem refugee camp early in the morning.

"Palestine Red Crescent teams transport four martyrs from inside Tulkarem camp due to the occupation's bombardment," the group said in a statement.

An official at the camp confirmed the strike and the death toll.

"The camp is besieged by aircraft and heavy numbers of the Israeli army, and tanks," Faisal Salama told AFP.

The Israeli military confirmed it carried out an air strike during the Tulkarem raid.

At midday (1000 GMT), loud explosions were heard in the camp as thick smoke billowed into the sky amid sporadic gunfire, an AFP correspondent reported.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since the Six-Day War of 1967 and its troops regularly carry out incursions into Palestinian communities.

- Woken by an explosion -

In a separate strike near Balata refugee camp, east of the city of Nablus, Palestinian official news agency Wafa reported that three men were killed.

The army said Ahmed Abdullah Abu Shalal, a Palestinian fighter, had been killed.

Abu Shalal had been responsible for a "number of attacks" over the past year, including one in annexed east Jerusalem, the army claimed.

It said he was killed following intelligence of his cell's intentions of carrying out an imminent attack.

Camp resident Sajed Hazeem said he was woken at dawn by a loud explosion.

Minutes after the blast an ambulance arrived at the scene but its access to the car was blocked by Israeli troops who arrived at the same time, Hazeem said.

"The army pulled out the bodies and after about half an hour it withdrew," he told AFP.

The Palestinian health ministry in Ramallah said the body of an "unidentified martyr killed by the occupation (Israel) in a bombing of a vehicle" had been received by a hospital in Nablus.

An AFP correspondent saw a pile of debris and the mangled remains of a car that was hit.