


Residents of Tulkarm in the Israeli-occupied West Bank assessed the damage on Saturday from a raid by Israeli forces that has chewed up roads, brought sudden bouts of violence and left many Palestinians reeling. Israel’s military pressed on elsewhere in the territory amid signs that fighting with Palestinian militant groups could spread.
Hundreds of Israeli soldiers swept into cities in the northern West Bank this week with columns of armored vehicles and bulldozers, clashing with militants and leaving many people trapped in their homes without running water or internet. One family said that a relative with mental illness was shot dead during the raid, his body left untended for hours during the violence.
In the Nur Shams neighborhood — a focus of the raid — workers and residents cleared away dirt and rubble churned up by Israeli bulldozers searching for improvised explosive devices.
“Cars can’t move through the streets, everyone is making their way on foot, because the dirt is piled up in huge mounds,” said Suleiman Zuhairi, a resident of Nur Shams and a retired official in the Palestinian Authority.
Israeli troops largely pulled back from Tulkarm on Friday, and were continuing their operation in the flashpoint city of Jenin in the northern West Bank, while two episodes farther south prompted fears that the violence was worsening.
At least 22 Palestinians have been killed since the raid started on Wednesday, according to the Palestinian Authority’s Health Ministry, many of whom militant groups have claimed to be members. Israel says that at last 20 militants have been killed.