Two Refugee Camps Besieged as Israeli Forces Intensify West Bank Campaign

September 13, 2025

Israeli army forcibly displace Palestinians from Tulkarm. (Photo: Wahaj Bani Moufleh, via Media Committee in Tulkarem Camp.)

Israeli forces have escalated raids and mass arrests across the occupied West Bank, detaining more than 1,500 in Tulkarm, injuring residents, and attacking refugee camps under a months-long blockade.

Israeli forces continued their military campaign in the city of Tulkarm and its two refugee camps for the 230th consecutive day on Saturday, carrying out daily incursions, enforcing a strict blockade, and preventing residents from entering Tulkarm and Nur Shams camps. 

Troops also vandalized homes and belongings and targeted residents with live fire, according to witnesses.

Palestinian media reported that a 60-year-old man was shot and wounded at the western entrance of Tulkarm camp on Saturday morning. 

Israeli forces also reportedly detained two people from the village of Kafa, south of Tulkarm, while assaulting another resident and arresting foreign activists in Khirbet Ibziq, northeast of Tubas.

Elsewhere, Israeli troops stormed the town of Beitunia and the city of al-Bireh before dawn, raiding several neighborhoods, searching two homes and a shop, and questioning residents, Palestinian sources reported.

The escalation comes as Israeli authorities intensify raids across the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, alongside expanding settlement activity.

Mass Detention in Tulkarm

Tulkarm has witnessed an unprecedented wave of detentions since Thursday, with the Israeli army detaining more than 1,500 people, including pedestrians, shop owners, and vehicle drivers. 

All of those detained were later released, but the campaign marked one of the most sweeping arrest operations in the city in recent months.

Meanwhile, several Palestinians were injured after illegal Israeli Jewish settlers attacked the village of Deir Jarir, east of Ramallah, coinciding with a large-scale escalation by Israeli forces across the West Bank.

In the south, Israeli troops stormed the city of Dura, near Hebron (Al-Khalil), detaining a young man. They also raided the town of Beit Ummar to the north of the city.

In Nablus, Israeli forces raided a house in Beit Furik and carried out incursions in several areas, including Hittin Street and the Old City. Troops also advanced through the Deir Sharaf checkpoint, north of Nablus.

(PC, Al Mayadeen)