Israel intensified its offensive in the northern West Bank on Tuesday, extending military operations from the city of Jenin to include Tulkarem and its adjacent refugee camp as well as the town of Tammoun near Tubas, which overlooks the Jordan Valley.

Early on Tuesday, Israeli forces pushed hundreds of troops into Tulkarem, imposing a total curfew on the city while raiding the Tulkarem refugee camp. Israeli forces reportedly demolished several houses and forced residents to leave, while Israeli drones launched multiple airstrikes on locations within the town of Tammoun, including twice within a single hour, as Israeli troops imposed a total curfew on the town.

Israel’s escalation on Tuesday came following a shooting attack carried out by a Palestinian man on an Israeli military base adjacent to the Tayaseer checkpoint in the northern Jordan Valley. The shooter infiltrated the base and took control of a watchtower before opening fire at troops inside the base, according to Israeli reports. The shooting resulted in the killing of an officer and a soldier and the wounding of eight others. The attacker was shot and killed by Israeli soldiers on site.

Dubbed “Operation Iron Wall,” Israel launched its ongoing offensive in the northern West Bank in mid-January. Israeli war minister Israel Katz has stated that Israel will later expand its offensive to the rest of the West Bank. The offensive has so far killed 29 Palestinians within the span of two weeks while displacing thousands. According to local authorities, 90% of the population of the Jenin refugee camp and 75% of Tulkarem refugee camp has been forced to leave under Israeli bombardment.

On Monday, the Israeli army detonated an entire residential block composed of 21 apartment buildings in Jenin, mirroring the “fire belt” strategy that Israel has employed in Gaza since October 7 — involving the concentrated and repetitive bombing of small areas that destroy entire residential blocks.

Tulkarem raid displaces thousands

In Tulkarem, life has been “paralyzed,” says Mu’men Hamed, a resident of Tulkarem and member of Jadayel, a local cultural association that has shifted its work to first response and humanitarian assistance ever since Israel intensified its military crackdown in Tulkarem in the wake of October 7, 2023.

“There is no commerce in the streets; shops are closed, schools are closed, too, and streets are empty of residents,” Hamed told Mondoweiss. “Only Israeli soldiers are present.”

“People are confined to their homes and can’t go to work or open their businesses. We as local associations try to get food, medicine, and blankets to the most needy families, but it’s extremely difficult to reach some places, especially the Tulkarem refugee camp,” Hamed went on.

“The most difficult part is the displaced people who have been forced out of their homes in the Tulkarem camp. They are in the thousands with no place to go,” he said. “About ten associations in the city are trying to find places to accommodate them, but it’s not easy to find enough apartments for free, let alone the ability to meet their basic needs. It’s hardest with families with children and the elderly or the sick.”

Hamed said that even Tulkarem’s city center, which is usually a vibrant commercial area, is paralyzed. “Although people are still allowed to leave the city and come back, most people stay at home, bracing for the home demolitions to expand from the camp to other parts of the city. We are expecting the worst.”

West Bank assault expands to northern Jordan Valley

Tammoun, a busy town that is considered a services and trade hub for the northern Jordan Valley, has been turned into “a ghost town” by the Israeli offensive, according to Tammoun’s mayor, Sameer Bisharat.

“The occupation has imposed a strict curfew on all of Tammoun, even using airstrikes to warn people against leaving their homes. Today alone, there were six warning strikes,” Bisharat told Mondoweiss on Tuesday. “One of them hit a location only 50 meters away from where two children were walking, but fortunately none of them were hurt.”

“The people of Tammoun are mostly farmers, and their lands are to the east of the town on the slopes of the Jordan Valley. They’re now being prevented from reaching their lands, and the marketplace in Tammoun is paralyzed, so the surrounding towns and villages are lacking a vital market for their necessities, including food,” Bisharat explained.

“I am going around the town with an ambulance team, and the only voices we can hear are our own,” he pointed out. “Ambulance crews are forced to ask permission from the occupation army to reach any place in the town, and the permit takes hours to be granted.”

“We are also facing difficulty in delivering food and other basic needs to homes due to the occupation’s restrictions on movement in the town,” Bisharat added.

Israeli forces have also engaged in demolitions and the displacement of several cities throughout the town, replicating the tactics the Israeli army has employed in Jenin over the past several weeks. “The occupation forces have destroyed the outside wall of a school and forced 20 families to leave their homes,” Bisharat explained. “We have accommodated them in other houses in the town, but we fear that more families will be displaced in the coming days.”

Bisharat expressed concern for the future of Tammoun, a once-vibrant town overlooking the Jordan Valley that has now been thrown into uncertainty. “I witnessed many raids carried out by the occupation army in my life, but none like this one,” he explained. “This time, the occupation seems determined to destroy life in the town and displace its population, just like in the rest of the West Bank. I am very worried about the near future.”

The attacks on the West Bank come as Israel and Hamas began the second round of talks over the ceasefire deal in Gaza on Tuesday, while Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with U.S. president Donald Trump in Washington. Analysts have speculated the U.S. might give a green-light to Israel to intensify its war on Palestinians in the West Bank, in preparation for its full annexation, in exchange for Israel holding the ceasefire deal in Gaza.

On Monday, Trump responded to a journalist’s question during a briefing in Washington about whether he would support the annexation of the West Bank by Israel, saying that he “won’t comment” on the topic, although adding that Israel was “very small in terms of land” compared to the rest of the Middle East, comparing it to a pen’s size on the surface of a desk. “That’s not good,” he said.