'Israel’s' siege on Tulkarm: Arrests, raids, and destruction

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Al Mayadeen English
13 Feb 2025 11:10
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Israeli invading units have sealed off entire districts, turning residential buildings into military outposts and imposing harsh movement restrictions.

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Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) check the ID of Palestinians in the West Bank refugee camp of Nur Shams, Tulkarm, as the Israeli military continues its brutal aggression in the area on Tuesday, February 11, 2025. (AP)

For nearly three weeks, Israeli occupation forces (IOF) have sustained a relentless military assault on the occupied West Bank city of Tulkarm and its refugee camp, with the crackdown now extending into its fifth day in nearby Nur Shams. The offensive has resulted in mass detentions of Palestinians, widespread home demolitions, and forced displacement, driving thousands from their homes under the threat of Israeli violence.

Overnight, invading Israeli units bolstered their presence, deploying reinforcements and sealing off entire districts. The IOF have commandeered residential buildings, converting them into military outposts while enforcing severe restrictions on movement—residents report being confined indoors, even barred from opening windows.

A video shows Israeli bulldozers destroying Palestinian properties in the Nour Shams refugee camp in Tulkarm. pic.twitter.com/YuUDdDb0oZ
— PALESTINE ONLINE 🇵🇸 (@OnlinePalEng) February 12, 2025

In Tulkarm camp, gunfire has rung out in the al-Matar neighborhood as Israeli units stormed homes, leaving destruction in their wake. Several houses have been seized and repurposed for sniper positions. The humanitarian toll is deepening: food, water, and medical supplies are dwindling, while essential services—including electricity, water, and telecommunications—have been cut off following extensive infrastructure damage.

Meanwhile, in Nur Shams, Israeli bulldozers continue demolishing homes and tearing through the camp’s streets, particularly in the al-Manshiya district, where the sound of live fire and explosions underscores the escalating situation.

Knesset pushes bill to rename West Bank as 'Judea and Samaria' in docs

The Knesset, "Israel's" parliament, has given preliminary approval to a bill proposed by MK Simcha Rothman that mandates replacing the term "West Bank" with "Judea and Samaria" in Israeli government documents, the Jewish Press news website reported on Wednesday.

"Israel" occupied the West Bank during the Six-Day War in June 1967. Prior to that, the Palestinian territory had been under Jordanian control since 1948.

Rothman criticized the current terminology in "Israel’s" legal framework as a "historical distortion" that must be rectified.

"The fact that the official legal language of the State of Israel still includes the disgraceful term ‘West Bank’ is an insult to the Knesset, the Jewish people, and our history," he said.

Rothman claimed that "this phrase serves a false narrative and erases our historical rights."

The bill’s preamble asserts that "Judea and Samaria are an inseparable part of the historic homeland of the Jewish people," underscoring their deep-rooted significance in Jewish history.

With its preliminary passage, the bill will now be referred to the Knesset’s Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee—chaired by Rothman—for further deliberation before proceeding to additional readings.

Notably, a similar initiative to incorporate these terms into official US documents has recently been introduced in Congress.

Hamas denounces Israeli theft in West Bank

In a related context, the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, condemned the Israeli occupation authorities' implementation of annexation and displacement plans in the occupied West Bank through settlement policies based on the theft of Palestinian land and resources for the benefit of heavily armed settlers.

In a statement, the movement said, "the declaration of the theft of what the occupation claims to be state and absentee property in the occupied West Bank—most recently the seizure of lands in Ramallah, Tubas, and the Jordan Valley—for use in settler pastoral projects is part of the annexation and control schemes being rapidly enforced amid the escalating military aggression against the West Bank."

This campaign aims to strangle Palestinian citizens, turn their lives into a living hell, and impose new realities on the ground in favor of the settlers, the statement indicated.

Hamas further noted that the Palestinian cause is currently facing an extremely critical and sensitive phase, "under a far-right government driven by insatiable ambitions to seize more land in the West Bank, with the backing of the United States and the illusions Trump is selling to the Zionist public."

The statement also underscored the importance of the steadfastness and resilience of the people of the West Bank and al-Quds, describing them as "the safeguard" that thwarts the occupation’s annexation and displacement plans.