The Israeli army assassinated eighteen citizens and injured more than twenty, including children and elders, in an airstrike on a popular café in Tulkarem refugee camp, in Tulkarem city, in the northwestern part of the occupied West Bank.

An Israeli aircraft fired at least one missile at a popular café in the Hamam neighborhood of Tulkarem refugee camp while dozens of citizens were there, resulting in the deaths of 18 citizens and injuries to at least twenty, the Palestinian Ministry of Health has confirmed.

Civil defense and ambulance vehicles rushed to the scene, transporting the slain and injured to Thabet Thabet Governmental Hospital in Tulkarem

Volunteer paramedic at the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS), Diala Hadaida, said: “We witnessed difficult scenes after the bombing, with the remains of children and elderly people scattered and hanging on power lines, in addition to several Palestinians being trapped under the rubble.”

Local sources reported that civil defense and ambulance teams are working to rescue several citizens from under the rubble.

Tulkarem Governor Mustafa Taqatqa stated that the “brutal massacre in Tulkarem refugee camp, targeting a popular café in the camp by a warplane, adds to a long series of crimes targeting our Palestinian people everywhere.”

Taqatqa confirmed that Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa is following up with all relevant authorities, including medical teams, ambulance and emergency teams of the Red Crescent, civil defense, and all related parties to address the aftermath of this crime.

Taqatqa pointed out that this crime will not undermine the determination of Tulkarem Governorate and the free will of the Palestinian people to end the occupation and establish the independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.

He called on international and human rights institutions to take immediate and urgent action to stop these war crimes, which flagrantly disregard all international treaties, human rights laws, and international humanitarian law, with their insistence on committing such crimes.

Faisal Salama, head of the Popular Committee for Tulkarem Camp, described what happened in Tulkarem Camp as a series of criminal acts and massacres committed against the people, carried out by warplanes targeting a residential neighborhood in the middle of the camp, resulting in dozens of deaths and very serious injuries that were transported to the hospital.

All national and Islamic factions called for a comprehensive strike in all West Bank governorates, Friday, to mourn the slain Palestinians.

It is worth mentioning that, since October 7, 2023, the Tulkarem governorate has been subject to serious Israeli military escalation, leading to the death of 152 Palestinians, including twenty-one children and four women, bringing the number of slain Palestinians in the West Bank, to 741 including more than 160 children, 11 women and two medics.

  • This article will be updated to include more info, including the names of slain Palestinians after they have been confirmed and their families officially notified.