Israeli fighter jets bomb West Bank coffee shop, killing 18 Palestinians
Israeli forces killed 18 Palestinians on Thursday after bombing a coffee shop in the occupied West Bank using fighter jets, in the first such attack since the Second Intifada during the early 2000s.
At least one missile hit a busy cafe in the al-Hamam neighbourhood in the crowded Tulkarm refugee camp late at night as citizens gathered there, according to official Palestinian news agency Wafa. Ambulances and first responders rushed to the scene after the raid, it added.
Video from the site posted on social media showed what appeared to be a corpse suspended in the air and rubble spewed across the street with cries in the background.
A source within the Palestinian security services told AFP this was the deadliest single attack in the occupied West Bank since 2000.
“We condemn the Tulkarm camp massacre and hold the occupation government fully responsible for its repercussions,” the Palestinian Authority’s presidency office said in a statement on Thursday.