Jerusalem, Sep 12 (EFE).- At least nine Palestinians have been killed in Israeli drone strikes in the northern occupied West Bank over the past 30 hours.
Three Palestinian lives were lost in the city of Tulkarem and six more in the Tubas governorate, local sources reported on Thursday.
Israeli forces laid siege to Tulkarem and its namesake refugee camp, both strongholds of Palestinian armed resistance, for the third consecutive day.
The sources said soldiers were present and reconnaissance aircraft were flying at low altitudes in the besieged area.
«Infantry units are being deployed in the streets and alleys of the camp’s neighborhoods, snipers have taken positions in high-rise buildings, and numerous homes have been turned into military posts after forcibly evicting residents,» the official Palestinian WAFA news agency reported.
Since last night, at least three Palestinians have been arrested, and three others were killed in an Israeli drone strike targeting a vehicle in Haj Masoud, east of Tulkarem. At least two of the deceased were reported to be militants.
In Tubas, a separate Israeli military incursion continued for the second day, with access to the town blocked and snipers stationed in its neighborhoods, according to the sources.
At midnight, Israeli forces stormed the Faraa camp south of Tubas, where 46-year-old Palestinian Sufyan Jawad Abdul Jawad was shot dead by Israeli gunfire.
Earlier on Wednesday morning, five young men were killed in an Israeli drone strike near the Al-Tawhid mosque in Tubas. According to the Israeli army, the attack targeted «armed militants.»
Since Wednesday, Israeli forces have raided homes and arrested at least nine residents in Tubas, according to WAFA.
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society reported that 40 Palestinians have been arrested across the West Bank in the past 24 hours from in Tubas and Hebron, where Israeli troops reportedly «attacked and vandalized homes.»
Since Oct. 7, the number of Palestinians arrested by Israeli forces in the West Bank has exceeded 10,700, according to the organization.
The West Bank is experiencing its worst surge of violence since the Second Intifada (2000-2005), and so far in 2024, at least 360 people have been killed by Israeli fire.
While most were militants or attackers, civilians—including around 60 minors—are also among the dead, according to an EFE tally. EFE
pms-ssk
