RAMALLAH, Palestine/ISTANBUL

Israeli forces have detained more than 1,000 Palestinians in the northern West Bank city of Tulkarm as part of a sweeping operation now in its second day, according to local officials.

Troops sealed off the city’s main entrances, stormed homes, shops and cafes, and forced young men into lines for field interrogations. Witnesses said soldiers vandalized property, seized surveillance recordings and deployed heavy machinery, including a bulldozer, in the city center.

Abdullah Kamil, governor of Tulkarm, said Friday the campaign amounted to “collective punishment” and called on the international community and rights groups to step in, warning of dire humanitarian consequences.

Israeli media said the clampdown followed a roadside bomb that struck a Panther armored vehicle near the Nitzanei Oz checkpoint on Thursday, lightly wounding two soldiers.

The Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ armed wing, and Islamic Jihad’s Al-Quds Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack, saying they detonated a large explosive charge against Israeli forces near the checkpoint.

Tulkarm has become a flashpoint in the army’s months-long campaign across the northern West Bank, where near-daily raids have escalated since the start of the Gaza war.

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.

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.