RAMALLAH, Palestine

The Israeli army on Thursday evening raided the Nour Shams refugee camp in the northern West Bank, besieging it amid intense clashes with Palestinian gunmen.

When the Israeli army stormed the camp in the city of Tulkarem, armed confrontations erupted between Palestinian gunmen and the invading forces, an Anadolu correspondent reported.

A bomb was detonated in an Israeli bulldozer at the entrance to the camp, the correspondent added.

Israeli military bulldozers began demolishing streets and infrastructure within the camp, he said.

In a statement, the Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement, said its fighters “managed to detonate homemade explosive devices prepared in advance against military vehicles belonging to the occupation, achieving direct hits.”

The Nour Shams refugee camp has previously faced repeated Israeli incursions, resulting in the deaths of several Palestinians and significant destruction of infrastructure.

Over the past few years, the Israeli military has conducted regular raids in the West Bank, which escalated with the beginning of the war on Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023. Palestinians have also been violently attacked by illegal Israeli settlers.

At least 749 Palestinians have since been killed and over 6,200 others injured by Israeli army fire in the occupied territory over the last year, according to the Health Ministry.

In a landmark opinion this July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian land illegal and demanded the evacuation of all existing settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala