In 1908, the Ottomans turned Tulkarm into a major rail junction on the Hejaz Railway line running up from Egypt and southern Palestine to Haifa and Acre in the northwest, Jerusalem, Nablus and Ramallah to the south, Lebanon to the north, and Syria and Transjordan to the east. The Ottoman Army used Tulkarm as one of their principal bases during the Sinai and Palestine campaign in World War I, and was bombed by British planes carried by HMS Anne. In 1918, it was captured by British forces.