The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) committed another massacre in Nour Shams refugee camp, in the northern city of Tulkarm, in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, February 9.
Sundus Jamal Shalabi (23), who was eight months pregnant, was killed alongside her unborn child by IOF gunfire, during a raid in the camp. Shalabi’s husband also suffered critical head injuries in the assault.
The IOF blocked medical teams from reaching the wounded people in the camp, preventing them from saving Shalabi’s fetus, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
A young Palestinian woman, Rahaf al-Ashqar (21), was also killed by the IOF in a separate incident during the raid in Nour Shams on Sunday. As per local sources, the IOF used explosives to open the door of Rahaf’s house, killing her and injuring her father.
On Monday, February 10, Iyas al-Akhras (20), was shot by the IOF in Nour Shams refugee camp. Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, mourned al-Akhras, stating that he was killed “after engaging in a firefight from point-blank range” with the IOF.
While intensifying its operation in the north, the IOF continues to target Palestinians in other parts of the West Bank. On Tuesday, February 11, the IOF raided Sa’ir city, northeast of Hebron, in the southern West Bank. Palestinian teenager Abdullah Murad (19) was killed by the IOF’s gunfire during the raid, while a 22-year-old man and a 10-year-old girl sustained injuries during confrontations that erupted following the raid.
The IOF expands open-fire orders and intensifies arrest campaigns in the West Bank
According to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the IOF has expanded the scope of its “open-fire” orders during the “Iron Wall” operation, leading to a surge in civilian deaths in the occupied West Bank.
Some IOF’s unit commanders told the newspaper that the central command decided to apply the “open-fire mechanism” used in the Gaza Strip, permitting “the shooting and killing of any unarmed Palestinian regardless of whether they were a suspect or not,” and “without resorting to detention”.
The order also stipulates that any vehicle coming from the combat zone can be shot at.
As a result, Palestinians who are fleeing the attacks or displaced by Israel’s operations could be targeted.
Alongside the open-fire orders, arrest campaigns intensified across the West Bank. The Palestinian Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner Society said in a joint statement on Monday that 580 Palestinians were arrested in the occupied West Bank in January, most of them from Jenin and its refugee camp.
