UPDATE - 17 Palestinians injured while trying to stop Israeli forces from demolishing homes in West Bank

CHANGES DECK; UPDATES WITH INJURIES, ARRESTS, PRCS AND PRISONERS SOCIETY STATEMENTS

By Awad Rjoob

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) – At least 17 Palestinians were injured and 16 others arrested while attempting to prevent Israeli forces from demolishing their homes during pre-dawn raids on five camps in the occupied West Bank that lasted until Sunday morning.

The Israeli army raid, described by locals as one of the largest, was carried out on the camps of Tulkarm and Nur Shams, an Anadolu correspondent on the ground said.

He added that at least 15 Palestinians were injured during the clashes with Israeli soldiers.

Israeli forces also stormed the Askar camp in Nablus, injuring two Palestinians during the resistance. Israeli troops also entered the Aqabat Jaber camp in Jericho and the Fawwar camp south of Hebron.

Military vehicles accompanied by two bulldozers stormed Tulkarm and Nur Shams camps overnight, destroying their infrastructure, eyewitnesses told Anadolu, adding that snipers were also deployed on house roofs.

The witnesses said the army conducted searches and entered dozens of homes for apparent “investigations,” causing Palestinians to resist which led to clashes.

However, Palestinian groups announced that their fighters had targeted Israeli forces with bullets and explosive devices.

Meanwhile, Palestine TV reported that Israeli forces were “targeted at the entrance of the Tulkarm camp with a high-explosive bomb.”

The forces surrounded the vicinity of Thabet Governmental and Al-Israa Speciality hospitals, obstructing ambulances to work and preventing them from entering the Nur Shams camp, it added.

"An occupation drone launched two missiles into the central Nur Shams camp. The first resulted in minor and moderate injuries to two young men, while the second resulted in material damage," the television report reported.

Israeli forces carried out "a massive campaign of arrests and field investigations with residents, especially with several martyrs' families."

Activists inside the camp shared videos on social media of infrastructure destruction and mass arrests of residents.

In the northern West Bank, the Israeli army stormed the Askar camp in the city of Nablus on Sunday morning, injuring among Palestinians, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS).

It also confirmed other Palestinians' injuries, stating in a statement that "the Palestine Red Crescent teams have dealt with 15 injuries up to the moment during the ongoing incursion of the occupation forces into the city of Tulkarm and the Nur Shams camp."

A source told Anadolu that the Israeli army stormed the Aqabat Jaber camp in the city of Jericho.

In the southern West Bank, an Israeli force stormed the Fawwar camp, south of Hebron, and raided the house of Ammar Abu Hussein, who was killed by Israeli soldiers for allegedly carrying out a car-ramming attack on Friday, which caused the injury of five soldiers.

The Israeli army arrested 16 Palestinians on Saturday night, bringing the number of detainees to 4,876 since Oct. 7, according to the Palestinian Prisoners' Society.

Tensions have been high across the West Bank since fighting broke out in Gaza on Oct. 7 between Palestinian groups and Israel.

With a total of 527 Palestinians killed in the West Bank so far this year, 2023 has been the deadliest year in the occupied territory on record, according to the UN agency for refugees.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi