Israeli troops clashed with Palestinian gunmen in a refugee camp in the West Bank city of Tulkarem on Thursday morning, the military said.
In a brief statement, the Israel Defense Forces said it had exchanged fire with armed Palestinians in the Tulkarem Camp overnight, and that the clashes continued as forces left the area in the morning hours.
Palestinians also set off a number of explosive devices near the troops, the IDF said.
The IDF said troops had hit a number of armed Palestinians. There was no immediate information on the number of wounded Palestinians and their conditions in Tulkarem.
A local wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group claimed responsibility for targeting the Israeli troops with gunfire and makeshift bombs, publishing photos of blood-soaked items purported to belong to wounded soldiers.
The military did not immediately provide information on casualties to IDF troops.
مصادر محلية: “دماء جنود الاحتلال المصابين خلال الاشتباكات التي اندلعت في مخيم طولكرم”. pic.twitter.com/394BzIzsJT
— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) October 5, 2023
Separately on Thursday morning, local security officials said Palestinian gunmen opened fire at an Israeli motorist on a nearby highway, close to the settlement of Avnei Hefetz.
Troops chased after the two suspects, opening fire at them near the entrance to the Palestinian village of Shufa, southeast of Tulkarm, according to Hebrew-language and Palestinian media reports. Their conditions were not known, though unverified reports claimed both had been killed
The IDF did not immediately comment on the incident.
#صورة من مكان إطلاق جيش الاحتلال النار باتجاه شابين في قرية شوقة بطولكرم. pic.twitter.com/Imzc4g4GdY
— Newpress | نيو برس (@NewpressPs) October 5, 2023
Violence has surged across the West Bank over the past year and a half, with a rise in Palestinian shooting attacks against Israeli civilians and troops, near-nightly arrest raids by the military, and an uptick in revenge attacks by extremist Jewish settlers against Palestinians.
In separate incidents late Wednesday, clashes broke out between Palestinians and IDF troops in the West Bank city of Nablus as Jewish pilgrims visited Joseph’s Tomb, a shrine in the city; a Palestinian was reportedly shot after attacking a civilian Israeli vehicle near the settlement of Ma’ale Levona; and two Palestinians were detained after a firebomb was hurled at a bus near the West Bank town of Azzun.
Palestinian attacks in Israel and the West Bank since the beginning of the year have left 27 civilians and three soldiers dead, and several others seriously wounded.
According to a tally by The Times of Israel, 190 West Bank and East Jerusalem Palestinians have been killed during the same period — the majority during clashes with security forces or while carrying out attacks, but some were uninvolved civilians and others were killed under unclear circumstances, including by armed Israeli settlers.
