Palestinians mourned their relatives killed in the Israeli attack on Tulkarm [Getty]
The Israeli army stopped the victims of a drone strike in the occupied West Bank city of Tulkarm from reaching a hospital, as they blocked off roads and carried out another military operation, relatives of the family said.
According to Haaretz, two Palestinians, identified as Khawla Abdullah, 53, and Bara’a Al-Sheikh Ali, 21, were killed in the drone attack with the Israeli army later admitting they were not the intended targets.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health later announced that three others were killed and nine wounded, including a 10-year-old boy in the attack. One person was also killed in the nearby Nur Shams camp.
Despite the injuries, the Israeli army stopped ambulances from entering the site and put the area under a complete lockdown.
According to reports, Abdullah’s relative said she was at home when she was killed.
“She was in the kitchen and there was an attack aimed at some youths…as she ran to her grandfather’s house she was wounded in the head and killed,” her relative said, adding that all the walls of the home were caved in following the strike.
“We weren’t able to take her out of the camp for two hours because of the lockdown. Ambulances weren’t allowed to come in” they added, noting that it meant Abdullah was also not be able to be buried immediately.
Enforced lockdown
Others said it took at least one hour to be able to be evacuated in an ambulance.
Ali was sitting in a room at home with her daughter, mother and other relatives when the strike hit, leaving her with shrapnel in the head.
Reports said that medics fought to save her life but she was pronounced dead later that evening.
The Palestinian Wafa news agency reported that Israeli forces have been carrying out a large-scale military onslaught on the city for several days.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society also said on Wednesday that its crews treated an elderly man who was wounded by shrapnel in the face, transferring him to hospital. Paramedic Ahmed Hatta was also wounded while carrying out his duties in the area.
Local Palestinian media added Israeli forces were stationed at Tulkarm’s entrances while bulldozers destroyed infrastructure. Some Israeli snipers were also stationed on rooftopsÂ
Israeli violence and raids in the West Bank have intensified since the war on Gaza began on 7 October last year.
From January 2023 to November 2024, at least 968 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces or settlers, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The figure includes at least 210 children. Thousands of others have been detained since October 2023.
