Israeli forces withdraw from Jenin and Tulkarm after 10-day offensive, leaving behind numerous deaths and devastation

JENIN, Palestine

Early Friday, the Israeli military withdrew from the northern West Bank cities of Jenin and Tulkarm, as well as from refugee camps, after 10 days of incursions and attacks that left 36 Palestinians dead and dozens more injured.

Witnesses told Anadolu that Israeli forces had withdrawn from Tulkarm and the refugee camp there, after withdrawing from Jenin and the camp there just hours earlier.

They said the city's infrastructure and homes had been significantly damaged.

The Israeli army re-entered Tulkarm early Monday after initially withdrawing on the evening of August 29 following a 48-hour military offensive.

Israeli forces withdrew from the city of Jenin and the refugee camp there on Friday after ten days of attacks that left dozens of people dead or injured and left behind considerable devastation, the official Palestinian agency Wafa said.

Residents of Jenin expressed fears that the Israeli military could return to the city and the camp and launch further attacks after withdrawing and taking up positions at surrounding military checkpoints – as has happened repeatedly in the past.

Israeli forces destroyed the main roads in Jenin, the refugee camp and the infrastructure in the east of the city. Water, electricity and communication lines were cut off by the excavations and destruction caused by Israeli construction equipment in the surrounding area.

On August 28, the Israeli army launched its most extensive military campaign in the northern West Bank in two decades.

According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, Israeli forces killed 36 Palestinians and injured more than 150 others during their offensive in Jenin, Tulkarm, Tubas and Al-Fara camp.

Tensions have escalated across the occupied West Bank as Israel continues its offensive on the Gaza Strip, an offensive that has killed nearly 40,900 Palestinians, mostly women and children, since October 7 last year.

According to the Health Ministry, at least 691 people have been killed and more than 5,700 injured by Israeli gunfire in the West Bank since then.

*Writing by Yasin Gungor in Istanbul and Ikram Kouachi in Ankara

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