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Scores dead and wounded in Israeli airstrike in West Bank refugee camp – UPDATE

An Israeli fighter jet targeted the Tulkarm refugee camp, killing and injuring scores of people. (Photo: Videograb, via AJA)

By Palestine Chronicle Staff

Dozens of Palestinians were killed and injured when an Israeli fighter jet hit a crowd in the Palestinian refugee camp of Tulkarm in the northern West Bank.

Videos of the chaotic scene showed bodies of Palestinians hanging from balconies and treetops after the powerful explosion.

Israeli Army Radio claimed that the airstrike was aimed at gunmen in Tulkarm, but the scene in Tulkarm's hospitals and clinics tells a different story.

Mutilated corpses and unidentified body parts were taken to hospitals by whatever means of transport the desperate refugees could find.

According to Al Jazeera, the Palestinian Ministry of Health initially said 14 people were killed before the number rose to 20.

Local journalists on the scene said many unidentified bodies were still uncounted.

This is believed to be the first time that Israeli warplanes have attacked the area since the Second Intifada (2000-2005).

The official Palestinian news agency WAFA said the attack targeted a very crowded area where many people were gathering at a local cafe.

According to WAFA, at least one rocket hit the Hammam neighborhood in Tulkarm.

This is a developing story.

(The Palestine Chronicle)

Thursday, October 3, 6:28 p.m. (GMT+2)

General strike announced in the West Bank

The national and Islamic forces in the occupied West Bank announced today, Friday, a full-scale strike in various governorates to mourn the victims of the Israeli occupation army in the Tulkarm refugee camp.

The Israeli attack resulted in the deaths of 18 Palestinians in the first such shelling by an Israeli fighter jet in the West Bank since the second intifada in 2000.

In a statement on Thursday evening, the armed forces called for activities in all seafront areas and military checkpoints, as well as for adherence to unity and the fight to end the occupation.

Hamas viewed the Israeli airstrike on the Tulkarm camp as a dangerous escalation of the occupation's ongoing aggression against the West Bank.

The attack is further proof of Israel's bankruptcy, as it has failed on the ground to break the resolve of the Palestinian people and their escalating resistance.

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