TULKARM, Palestinian Territories: Palestinians held funerals on Friday and assessed the damage of a days-long Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank, where violence has intensified since war started in Gaza.
Residents gathered beside 7 bodies in a hospital in Tulkarem as the father of one of the martyred wept in the corner.
Israeli troops withdrew Friday after raiding the Tulkarem area for almost 2 days.
Mourners threw flowers over those martyred and masked gunmen fired in the air as the funeral procession made its way through Tulkarem refugee camp.
Automatic rifles were later placed on the shrouded bodies, AFP reported.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967 and its forces regularly carry out incursions into Palestinian communities.
Israeli raids intensify
The raids have intensified since the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza erupted more than three months ago, increasingly lasting days and accompanied by air attacks.
Israel’s forces said they searched nearly 1,000 buildings around Tulkarem and interrogated hundreds of people, apprehending dozens of them.
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Club advocacy group said on Thursday that some of those arrested were severely beaten by Israeli troops.
There was widespread destruction in Tulkarem, including a damaged ambulance, a demolished house and other buildings with gaping holes in the walls.
The camp had been flooded with debris and mud and diggers were needed to allow access.
Since the Israel-Hamas war started on 7 October, Israeli forces and settlers have martyred over 360 people in the West Bank, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
Over the same period, Israeli troops have detained over 6,000 Palestinians, according to the Prisoners’ Club.
