TULKARM, Saturday, May 4, 2024 (WAFA) - The number of Palestinians killed by Israeli occupation forces during the military offensive today on the town of Deir al-Ghusun, located north of Tulkarm city in the occupied West Bank, has risen to five, according to Palestinian security sources.
The sources told WAFA that the Israeli occupation forces have taken away the bodies of four out of the five martyrs, after besieging and later gradually bombing and destroying the house upon them in an onslaught that lasted for nearly 13 hours.
The Israeli attack involved dozens of infantry units, heavy bulldozers, reconnaissance drones, shoulder-fired missiles, gunfire, and stun grenades.
The four martyrs whose bodies were taken away by the forces were identified as Tamer Foqaha, 32, Alaa Shreiteh, 45, Assal Badran, 42, and Adnan Samarah, 40.
Later today, the Palestinian Red Crescent teams retrieved a fifth martyr from the rubble after the Israeli forces withdrew from the town. His identify remains unknown, too.
As soon as the occupation forces withdrew from the town, locals, ambulances, and civil defense teams rushed to the destroyed house. They began removing the rubble and searching for any injured or martyrs who might still be trapped beneath the debris.
A video footage circulating on social media showed Israeli occupation forces shooting at two young men while they were trying to get out from under the rubble of the demolished house, which led to their murder.
Earlier in the day, WAFA correspondent reported that Israeli bulldozers had embarked on demolishing the house after several hours of tight siege, while imposing a curfew in the surrounding area.
During the onslaught, Israeli forces fired stun grenades and teargas towards a group of journalists while they were covering the events from a building opposite the targeted house. Meanwhile, an Israeli sniper fired at a camera belonging to Al-Arabi TV without reporting any injuries.
The Israeli forces also arrested the homeowner, Salma Bashir Badran, a former prisoner in Israeli jails, after he emerged safe from the rubble. He was subsequently handcuffed, blindfolded, interrogated, and detained.
M.N
