At least 18 people have been killed on Thursday in an Israeli air attack on the Tulkarem refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said. The attack is the first such missile strike on Tulkarm since the Second Intifada in the early 2000s.
The Israeli military confirmed that its fighter jets had attacked in coordination with Israel’s internal security service, the Shin Bet.
The bombing targeted the al-Hamam neighbourhood in Tulkarm camp, and at least one missile hit a popular cafe in the middle of the camp in a three-story building, Palestinian officials said. Ambulances and first responders were rushing to the scene.
“We condemn the Tulkarm camp massacre and hold the occupation government fully responsible for its repercussions,” the Palestinian Authority’s presidency office said in a statement on Thursday.
Between October 7 of last year and the end of September, 695 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank, according to a tally from the United Nations Humanitarian Office (OCHA). Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967. The vast majority of people were killed by the Israeli army, while a dozen were killed by Israeli settlers, OCHA said.
