Hamas slams Netanyahu’s entry into Tulkarem camp as ‘political and military bankruptcy’

By Mohamed Majed and Mohammad Sio

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - Hamas criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit Friday to the Tulkarem refugee camp in the northern occupied West Bank as a “showy move reflecting political and military bankruptcy.”

The Palestinian resistance group said Netanyahu’s visit to the resilient Tulkarem camp was intended to cover up his repeated failures and retreat in facing the Palestinian resistant people.

The group emphasized that Netanyahu is accustomed to “such transparent theatrics,” noting his previous threats in the Gaza Strip’s Netzarim and Philadelphi corridors, which he eventually abandoned.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemned the provocative visit that included Defense Minister Katz as an escalation of Israel's aggression against Palestinians.

The ministry expressed strong condemnation of the “provocative raid” on the camp, highlighting that it took place amid the forced displacement of residents.

It emphasized that Israel’s military-based approach to the conflict exacerbates tensions and threatens to ignite the situation.

Netanyahu entered a Palestinian home in the camp earlier Friday, hours after Katz did the same.

Israeli Public Broadcasting Authority, KAN, shared a picture of Netanyahu inside the home alongside military officers.

According to available data, Netanyahu’s last publicly announced visit to the occupied West Bank was in September, when he toured the Jordanian border in the eastern part of the territory.

The broadcaster noted that Netanyahu was conducting a field tour in Tulkarem following bus explosions Thursday in central Israel. The photo showed Israeli soldiers placing an Israeli flag on the wall of the Palestinian home.

Netanyahu also announced a new military operation in the West Bank.

“We are destroying entire streets, eliminating militants, and I have instructed reinforcements in the West Bank along with additional military operations,” Netanyahu said in a recorded statement from Tulkarem, released by his office.

He added that the military campaign aims to dismantle the infrastructure of Palestinian armed factions.

On Thursday, multiple explosive devices were detonated on buses in Bat Yam and Holon, near Tel Aviv, sparking fires but causing no injuries. Police have not yet attributed responsibility for the attacks to any Palestinian group.​​​​​​​

But the Haaretz newspaper reported on Friday that two Israelis were arrested on suspicion of involvement in the explosions.

Meanwhile, the Ynet news site reported that the Israeli Security Service arrested three suspects for allegedly helping plant explosives in buses around Tel Aviv. Authorities suspect the attacks were a failed terror plot.

For nearly two months, Israeli forces have been conducting military operations in northern West Bank refugee camps, particularly in Jenin, Tulkarem and Tubas.

Earlier Friday, the army announced the deployment of three additional battalions to the West Bank following Netanyahu’s directive for a “strong operation.”

Tension has been running high across the occupied West Bank, where at least 920 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 7,000 injured in attacks by the Israeli army and illegal settlers since the start of the onslaught on the Gaza Strip Oct. 7, 2023, according to the Health Ministry.

The International Court of Justice declared in July that Israel’s long-standing occupation of Palestinian territories is illegal, calling for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.