Israel targets West Bank in rare jet attack, at least 18 killed

Israel killed 18 Palestinians after bombing a coffee shop in the occupied West Bank using fighter jets, in the first such attack since the Second Intifada during the early 2000s.

At least one missile hit a busy cafe in the al-Hamam neighbourhood in the crowded Tulkarm refugee camp as citizens gathered there, according to official Palestinian news agency Wafa. Ambulances and first responders rushed to the scene after the raid, it added.

Video from the site posted on social media showed what appeared to be a corpse suspended in the air and rubble spewed across the street with cries in the background.

A source within the Palestinian security services told AFP this was the deadliest single attack in the occupied West Bank since 2000.

“We condemn the Tulkarm camp massacre and hold the occupation government fully responsible for its repercussions,” the Palestinian Authority’s presidency office said in a statement on Thursday.

Hamas and the Islamic Jihad movements also condemned the “massacre” calling it a “dangerous escalation”.

The Israeli army confirmed the strike and claimed it was a joint operation carried out by the Shin Bet internal security service and the air force, according to a brief statement by the military.

The strike is a crescendo of Israel’s escalating attacks in the occupied West Bank, since 7 October 2023, after the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel. At least 700 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli attacks in the occupied West Bank since then.

In August, Israel launched a massive offensive in the northern West Bank targeting the cities of Jenin, Tulkarm and Tubas with military helicopters and large convoys of armoured vehicles.

Major Israeli offensives in the occupied West Bank are sometimes occurring “at a scale not witnessed in the last two decades”, United Nations announced in September.