(Tulkarem) The UN has called for an “immediate” end to Israel’s deadly operation in the occupied West Bank and said the suffering of Gaza residents was “beyond what any human being should endure.”
The Israeli army said it killed seven Palestinian fighters on Thursday, on the second day of this large operation against armed groups, which left at least 16 dead in 48 hours.
Expressing his “deep concern”, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on Thursday on the social network X for its “immediate end”, condemning “strongly the loss of human life, particularly of minors”.
The UN humanitarian office, OCHA, has warned of the continuation of “military operations near hospitals” and the “serious damage” inflicted on infrastructure, cutting off electricity and telecommunications in places.
The Israeli army launched this operation described as “anti-terrorist” on Wednesday by sending its columns of armored vehicles to Jenin, Tulkarem, Toubas and their refugee camps, in the north of the occupied West Bank, where armed groups are particularly active.
After reporting nine fighters killed, it claimed on Thursday to have killed seven others: two in Jenin and five holed up “in a mosque” in the Nour Chams camp in Tulkarem, including a commander of Islamic Jihad, a group allied to Hamas who confirmed his death.
But according to the governor of Tulkarem, Mostafa Taqatqa, the five were killed “in a rocket attack on a house”, without fighting.
The Palestinian Health Ministry also reported 16 deaths, including, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent, two teenagers aged 13 and 17, described as “terrorists” by the Israeli army.
PHOTO JAAFAR ASHTIYEH, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
The toll rose on August 29 when the Israeli military said it had killed five militants in Tulkarem, bringing to 14 the total number of people killed since the operation was launched in the West Bank the previous day.
“Pressure on the resistance”
Clashes continued Thursday afternoon in Jenin and Israeli soldiers continued to operate in Tulkarem, according to two AFP journalists. The army, however, withdrew from the Toubas refugee camp, witnesses said.
Israel “wants to put pressure on the resistance,” but each “Zionist escalation” strengthens it, Mohamed Mansour, a political leader, told AFPTV in Toubas.
According to the Palestinian Prisoners Club, at least 45 people have been arrested since Wednesday, with the army recording ten arrests. Israeli incursions into Palestinian autonomous areas are a daily occurrence in the West Bank, a Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967, but they are rarely on this scale.
Since the start of the war in Gaza, triggered by Hamas’ unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, violence in the West Bank has flared up.
The UN on Wednesday put the number of Palestinians killed by the Israeli army or settlers since October 7 at least 637. At least 19 Israelis, including soldiers, died in Palestinian attacks or army operations, according to official Israeli data.
PHOTO JAAFAR ASHTIYEH, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Smoke billows from the Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarem, with the United Nations warning that the operation “will fuel an already volatile situation.”
“All lost”
In the Gaza Strip, still pounded by Israel and engaged in fighting, the Civil Defense announced on Thursday eight deaths in an Israeli strike on Gaza City (north). Three Palestinians died in a drone strike in Rafah (south), according to a medical source to AFP.
The Israeli army said it had killed “dozens” of fighters in the past 24 hours, including one it said took part in the October 7 attack.
Israeli troops are continuing their operations in Rafah, in the Khan Younis region (south) and on the outskirts of Deir al Balah (center), according to the army.
Displaced residents returned to parts of the city’s eastern districts on Thursday to find their homes destroyed. “We lost everything,” said Ibrahim al-Tabaan, trying to salvage some belongings from the rubble.
“What has happened to our basic humanity?” Joyce Msuya, acting head of the UN humanitarian office (OCHA), told the Security Council on Thursday, describing the suffering of the inhabitants as “beyond what any human being should endure.”