Israeli forces kill 325th Palestinian in West Bank since 7 October

Israeli forces killed a young Palestinian man on Thursday during another military raid in the occupied West Bank, taking the number of Palestinians killed in the territory since the war on Gaza began on 7 October to 325.

The latest victim was 29-year-old Usaid Bani Odeh, the Palestinian health ministry said.

Bani Odeh was wounded during a confrontation between residents and Israeli troops in the northeastern West Bank town of Tammoun, near Toubas, local Palestinian sources said.

He was transferred to Toubas’s hospital but pronounced dead shortly after, according to the sources.

Bani Odeh, who had gotten married in March, was mourned on Wednesday afternoon by hundreds of Palestinians, as a funeral procession moved first through the streets of Toubas, then through his hometown of Tammoun, where he was laid to rest.

A young Palestinian man is shot and killed by Israeli troops during a violent raid into Tammoun town, just south of Tubas, at dawn today https://t.co/O84Uihne5w

— Sarah Wilkinson (@swilkinsonbc) January 4, 2024

ٍIn Tulkarm and the adjacent Nour Shams refugee camp in the northwest of the West Bank, Israeli forces on Thursday maintained a two-day raid.

During the incursion, Israeli forces detonated and destroyed a house belonging to the family of ٍSanad Ghanem, a Palestinian killed by Israeli forces in 2005. 

Israeli forces have arrested hundreds of Palestinians in the city and the refugee camp during their raids.

"Occupation forces have arrested more than 400 people so far, especially from the Nour Shams refugee camp," Faisal Salameh, a resident of Tulkarm and coordinator of Palestinian factions in the city told The New Arab.

The occupying forces hold tens of Palestinians and pulled them at the Nur Shams camp in Tulkarem, during the continuous invasion over 17 hours.#FreePalestine pic.twitter.com/EuURy4qGkB

— Nadin Nabil Al Shaker (@Shnadine7777) January 3, 2024

"Many of these detainees have been field-interrogated by occupation forces, while others have been beaten, and many of them have been released but banned from returning to the camp," said Salameh.

"Occupation soldiers have been raiding houses and searching them, terrorising families, and it is not over yet, which has basically paralysed life in the city completely."

Tulkarm and the Nour Shams camp have been at the centre of Israeli raids since 7 October.

In mid-December, Israeli forces conducted a large raid at the camp, clashing with Palestinian fighters.

In another raid on the camp in late November, Israeli forces killed seven Palestinians.

THREAD 🧵
1. Caption says: “A very special work of art that our soldiers created today in the heart of Noor Shams camp.”

That's Nur Shams Refugee Camp east of Tulkarm, West Bank.

– Text is G0ogle Translated from Hebrew.
– From an Israeli Telegram channel I just discovered. It… pic.twitter.com/6TCjp9lqjR

— #InvokeGenocideConvention #SaveGazanLives (@UdsiAsli) January 3, 2024

Israeli raids lasting for more than 24 hours have become more frequent in the West Bank in recent weeks.

In mid-December, Israeli forces raided Jenin's refugee camp for more than 34 hours, killing seven Palestinians, and destroying large parts of the camp's infrastructure.

More than 500 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank in the year 2023, the highest death toll in the territory for decades.