ISTANBUL 

Palestine on Friday called for urgent international intervention to protect the city of Tulkarm in the northern West Bank, accusing Israel of imposing collective punishment on its residents.

Civilians in Tulkarm are facing home raids, mass detentions, closures, and property seizures under “brutal and unlawful measures,” Palestine’s Foreign Ministry said on US social media company X.

It warned that Israel’s campaign is part of a deliberate effort to destabilize the West Bank and create conditions for annexation, settlement expansion, and forced displacement.

“The lack of accountability only encourages Israel’s government to escalate its unilateral and illegal practices,” the ministry said, urging that international consensus be translated into “practical steps” to halt the assault and enforce international law.

The appeal followed a major Israeli operation in Tulkarm on Thursday. Troops sealed off the city’s main entrances, stormed homes, shops, and cafes, arrested scores of residents and forced groups of young men into lines for questioning. Witnesses said soldiers also confiscated security camera footage and deployed heavy vehicles, including a bulldozer, in the city center.

Israeli media reported that the clampdown came hours after two soldiers were lightly wounded when one of their armored vehicles was struck by a roadside explosive near the city.

Since the start of Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip in October 2023, at least 1,020 Palestinians have been killed and more than 7,000 injured in the occupied West Bank by Israeli forces and illegal settlers, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Israel’s terror campaign in the West Bank is meant to drive Palestinians off their land, making a two-state solution impossible, according to Palestine.

In a landmark opinion last July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal. It demanded the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.