‘We will not leave this place even if we are buried under the rubble,' says Tulkarem Refugee Camp resident
The world has failed to stop Israeli attacks against the Gaza Strip that began Oct. 7 and is now watching as the same bombs are being dropped on the occupied West Bank and Lebanon.
The destruction in the Tulkarem refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, which has been the repeated target of the Israeli army since Israel began its genocide against Gaza, is immediately visible.
Half-demolished buildings in ruins, children playing in the street with water from busted water pipes and the faces of Palestinians sitting in front of houses tell the horror they have been subjected to and the abandonment they have experienced in the face of Israeli attacks.
- Israel launches air attack in West Bank for 1st time in 19 years
The world, which has been content with watching the Israeli bombardment of Gaza for one year, is now witnessing the same scenes in Lebanon and the occupied West Bank.
For the first time since the second intifada from 2000 - 2005, the Israeli army used fighter jets in attacks on the West Bank.
In the Tulkarem refugee camp in the northern occupied West Bank, a fighter jet dropped three bombs on a building the night of Oct. 3.
Palestinians are still trying to collect body parts of those killed in the attack, while construction equipment is trying to remove the rubble.
Residents said the camp was targeted minutes before the Dahiyeh area in Beirut was attacked. The camp had not been attacked by fighter jets since the second intifada when Israel staged a deadly campaign against the West Bank.
- Abu Zahra family killed with belongings, photos under rubble
The Palestinian Health Ministry announced that 18 Palestinians were killed in the attack.
Medical sources and residents said all members of the Abu Zahra family -- mother, father, 6-year-old twins and a relative, were killed.
Palestinians collected photographs and belongings of the family from the rubble.
- Father who lost his son last month barely survived attack
Abdullah Mohammed Kenan, who lost his 14-year-old soccer-playing son while he was in his arms, was wounded during a Sept. 3 raid on the camp. He lives near the bombed-out building.
Kenan told Anadolu that he was sitting at home when he suddenly heard the sound of an explosion and the surrounding area was suddenly covered in a cloud of dust.
He said he was out of breath because of the impact of the bomb and his brother saved him from the house.
Kenan emphasized that the bombing was extremely violent and when he went outside, he saw the bodies of those who were sitting in a coffee house scattered on the road.
The father, who was wounded while trying to save his son, Mohammed, who was shot by an Israeli sniper Sept. 3, is “outraged that Israel called him a terrorist.”
He said that his son was wearing shorts, slippers and a laptop in his hand when he shot walking near his home. Kenan said he was wounded in the abdomen and showed the evidence of shrapnel wounds to his arm.
- ‘We will not leave this place even if we are buried under the rubble'
Youssef Garab, another witness, pointed out that people in the camp live together, and there has not been such an attack on the West Bank since 2005.
He was in shock after the bombardment.
“After the explosion, body parts were scattered everywhere. It is still unknown who the two bodies belong to. We are waiting for the Health Ministry to conduct a DNA test. We will continue to stay here no matter what happens,” he told the Turkish news agency.
He said the Israeli army attacked Tulkarem on Oct 7 to expel its residents.
“We will not leave this place even if we are under the rubble. Our situation is similar to our brothers in Gaza and Lebanon. Since Oct. 7, 2023, 126 Palestinians have been martyred in this camp. This is genocide,” he said.
In the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, 740 Palestinians have been killed in attacks by Israeli soldiers and Israelis since Oct. 7, 2023.
