Palestinians count cost of Israel's West Bank raid

Palestinians held funerals on Friday and assessed the damage of a days-long Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank, where violence has surged since war erupted in Gaza.

Residents gathered beside seven bodies in a hospital in Tulkarem as the father of one of the dead wept in the corner, an AFP photographer said.

Israeli forces withdrew Friday after raiding the Tulkarem area for almost two days, during which the military said troops killed “at least eight terrorists”.

Mourners threw flowers over those killed and masked gunmen fired in the air as the funeral procession made its way through Tulkarem refugee camp.

Automatic rifles were later placed on the shrouded bodies, the AFP photographer said.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967 and its troops regularly carry out incursions into Palestinian communities.

The raids have escalated since the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza began more than three months ago, increasingly lasting days and accompanied by air strikes.

Israel’s military said they searched around 1,000 buildings around Tulkarem and interrogated hundreds of people, arresting dozens of them.

The Palestinian Prisoners’ Club advocacy group reported Thursday that some of those detained were severely beaten by Israeli forces.

The army did not directly respond to AFP questions about the allegation.

An army statement said troops seized weapons and destroyed “five explosives manufacturing laboratories”, while one soldier was seriously wounded in the raid.

AFP journalists saw widespread destruction in Tulkarem, including a damaged ambulance, a demolished house and other buildings with gaping holes in the walls.

The camp had been flooded with mud and debris and diggers were needed to allow access.

Since the Israel-Hamas war broke out on October 7, Israeli troops and settlers have killed more than 360 people in the West Bank, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

Over the same period, Israeli forces have arrested more than 6,000 Palestinians, according to the Prisoners’ Club.