Further escalation in the Westbank
Night of deadly raids, arrests across West Bank
It’s a night of heavy violence across the occupied West Bank, as five Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces on Sunday. The deaths include two teenagers in el-Bireh near Ramallah – where Israeli forces opened fire on an ambulance – two men in Sair, north of Hebron, and a 16-year-old in the Ein Al-Sultan refugee camp north of Jericho.
There are also ongoing major raids in the city of Qalqilya, where Israeli forces accompanied by a bulldozer have demolished a home in the Khallet Yassin area and shot a man. Raids and arrests have been reported in the following locations in the occupied West Bank so far tonight:
- In the city of Al-Dhahiriya, south of Hebron
- The Ein al-Sultan refugee camp, north of Jericho
- The city of Yatta, south of Hebron
- The town of Beit Rima, northwest of Ramallah
- In the town of Beit Ummar, north of Hebron
- The town of Hajjah, east of Qalqilya
- Israeli forces arrested a man and his son in the village of Beitin, northeast of Ramallah
- Israeli settlers burned a Palestinian vehicle in the village of Burin, south of Nablus
Meanwhile Gaza is still in another communications blackout
Two Palestinians killed trying to restore Gaza internet service: Communications monitor
The NetBlocks observatory says the more than 48-hour outage has left “most residents cut off” as the war in the enclave passes the 100-day mark. The monitor added that operator Paltel has said that two of its repair crews have been killed while trying to restore service.
⚠️ Update: Network data show the Gaza Strip has now been offline for over 48 hours, leaving most residents cut off as the Israel-Hamas war passes the 100 day mark; backbone operator Paltel reports that two of its repair crews have been killed while working to restore service ⏱️ pic.twitter.com/TYjASkYYZC
— NetBlocks (@netblocks) January 14, 2024
Israeli strikes continue across Gaza
Not only are people reflecting on 100 days, but they’re also experiencing renewed air strikes across the territory, even in the northern part, where there are attacks on Beit Lahiya and attacks on the southern part of Gaza City, with the Israeli military demolishing more than 10 residential homes.
As we speak, there are more air strikes and artillery concentrated in the central area [of the Gaza Strip], where the remaining health facility has been attacked repeatedly, as well as an evacuation centre. Distressing reports are also coming from the southern part of the city of Khan Younis, which has been repeatedly targeted with intense shelling and air strikes.
There are reports about an entire residential block that was attacked and destroyed by relentless air strikes. We’re trying to get a confirmation on the number of people who have been killed. We were told by a civil defence crew and an ambulance that they were finding it very difficult to get to the area as it was under heavy artillery shelling.
