Palestinians inspect the destruction following an Israeli operation in Nur Shams refugee camp, near the West Bank town of Tulkarem, Sunday, June 30, 2024. Palestinian health officials said one person was killed and several wounded during an Israeli operation in the Nur Shams refugee camp in the northern West Bank. Israel frequently operates in the area, saying it is a stronghold of Palestinian militants.
The occupied West Bank has experienced a surge in violence since the war in Gaza erupted in October. The Palestinian Health Ministry says over 500 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank since the start of the war. Most have been killed during Israeli raids and violent protests. The dead also include bystanders and Palestinians killed in attacks by Jewish settlers.
The latest operation has sent thousands of residents fleeing. The army said Sunday it has killed dozens of militants in “close-quarters combat” and airstrikes, and confiscated weapons from a hideout it said Hamas had kept in a United Nations-supported school. “This is the fourth time going from place to place where they tells us is a safe area but turns out it isn’t,” Mohammad Hajjaj told The Associated Press. He was first displaced from Shijaiyah in the early weeks of the war.