Israeli forces assassinated, on Saturday, nine Palestinian young men in two separate drone strikes in the Tulkarem governorate, in northwestern part of the West Bank.
The names of the slain Palestinians are;
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Haitham Nour El Din Mahmoud Al-Balidi, 25,
Abdul Jaber Fahd Sabbagh “Dahrouki”, 21,
Ahmad Ibrahim Abdel Rahman Muhajneh, 20,
Jamal Ibrahim Abu Haniya, 19,
Ali Mahmoud Bakr, 20,
Moamen Kamal Mohammed Qaraawi, 22 – body withheld,
Thaer Ahmad Mahmoud Hamidi, 22 – body withheld,
Moamen Salah Hassan Masharqa, 25 – body withheld,
Yassin Saed Adel Shafei, 22 – body withheld.
Media sources said that early Saturday morning, an armed Israeli drone fired two missiles at a vehicle carrying five Palestinian young men on the road leading to the town of Zeita, northeast of Tulkarem.
Sources added that immediately after the drone strike, occupation forces surrounded the scene and blocked citizens from approaching, however the ambulance crews and citizens retrieved the five bodies and transported them to hospital.
According to the director of the Martyr Thabet Thabet Governmental Hospital in Tulkarem, reported that five badly burned bodies arrived at the hospital, only one of whom was identified as Haitham Nour al-Din Balidi, 25, from the Tulkarem refugee camp.
Meanwhile, at dawn on Saturday, occupation forces invaded the city of Tulkarem, accompanied by four military bulldozers, which proceeded to raze streets and infrastructure in the city, while reconnaissance drones flew overhead.
Media sources said a large army force invaded the city hours after withdrawing, accompanied by two bulldozers, and besieged the Tulkarem refugee camp, positioning sharpshooters in the vicinity of the camp.
Bulldozers destroyed streets and privately-owned property in the eastern part of the city and razed streets and infrastructure inside the Tulkarem camp, amid heavy gunfire.
Sources added that the army opened fire with tear gas canisters towards a group of journalists near the Tulkarem camp, causing at least three of them to sustain inhalation injuries.
Furthermore, on Saturday afternoon, a second Israeli drone strike killed four more Palestinian citizens while they were present on lands located between the towns of Iktaba and Bal’a, northeast of the city.
Media sources said that an armed Israeli drone fired a missile at a group of citizens, killing four young men.
Sources added that a large army force surrounded the site, prevented ambulance crews from reaching the slain men, before confiscating the bodies.
According to the Arab 48 website, the slain young man, Haitham Nour El Din Mahmoud Al-Balidi was one of the leaders of the Al-Qassam Brigades in Tulkarem, and Abdul Jaber Fahd Sabbagh “Dahrouki” was identified as one of the leaders of the Al-Quds Brigades in the Nur Shams refugee camp, east of Tulkarem.
Israeli forces have now killed 603 Palestinians, including 144 children in various parts of the occupied West Bank, since the beginning of the Israeli military onslaught against the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023.
