Israeli forces carry out fresh arrests across West Bank
Israeli forces have carried out a series of arrests across the occupied West Bank, the Wafa news agency reports. They include:
- Two men arrested in the village of Tal, south of Nablus
- Two men arrested in the town of Arura, northwest of Ramallah
- Two men arrested in the town of as-Samu, south of Hebron
- A man arrested in the suburb of Thinnabeh, east of Tulkarem
- A man arrested in the town of Attil, northeast of Tulkarem
Earlier, Wafa reported that 20 Palestinians were arrested near the town of al-Issawiya, northeast of occupied East Jerusalem.
Israel arrests 35 Palestinians in occupied West Bank
At least 35 Palestinians have been detained by Israeli forces across the occupied West Bank in raids overnight and this morning, the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society said.
Among those arrested is Rawda Abu Ajmiyeh, a Palestinian former prisoner who was released in the exchange deal between Israel and Hamas in November. Abu Ajmiyeh was detained from her home in the Dheisheh refugee camp south of Bethlehem, along with two men.
At least 13 of the 240 Palestinians released in November have been rearrested, with 11 of them remaining in Israeli custody, the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society said. The majority of the arrests took place in the occupied East Jerusalem neighbourhood of al-Issawiya.
Iraqi armed faction claims attack on Israeli base in Golan Heights
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a coalition of pro-Iran armed groups, says it launched a drone attack at an Israeli airbase in the occupied Golan Heights.
There were no immediate reports of the attack by the Israeli military or in Israeli media, but the Jordanian army earlier announced suspicious aerial movements from an unknown source along its border with Syria.
In a statement, the Islamic Resistance said its attack against the Israeli airbase was in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza and that it would “double” such attacks against “enemy strongholds” during Ramadan.
It comes after the Islamic Resistance, on March 11, claimed to target Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport with explosive drones, although no reports confirmed the airport was ever hit. The Islamic Resistance has regularly waged attacks on US military bases in Iraq during the war on Gaza.
Israeli military claims another strike on Hezbollah military site
An overnight Israeli air raid hit a Hezbollah “military structure and observation post” in the southern border village of Ramyah, the Israeli military has said on Telegram. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Israel’s ‘short-sighted’ war strategy bringing heavy ‘political loss’
Ulrich Brueckner, a professor of European Studies at Stanford University, has criticised Israel’s war strategy as “short sighted”, overlooking its enduring humanitarian consequences or establishing a clear post-war plan.
As a result, the war could bring Israel a “political loss that will last much longer than any potential victory it can claim”, Brueckner told Al Jazeera.
Brueckner added that neither the US nor Europe would likely be able to exert much influence on Netanyahu, who is fighting for “political survival”. While the US theoretically has more leverage, he said, President Biden is caught between “strong supporters of the Palestinians and a very strong Jewish lobbying group during an election year”.
Spanish protesters’ tribute to victims of war in Gaza
Hundreds of activists in Spain have held a demonstration in a show of solidarity with Palestinians enduring Israeli attacks in Gaza. One protester, Bernardo Atxaga, told Al Jazeera he believes the Israeli attacks, which have killed at least 31,923 people, amount to a “genocide” against Palestinians.
“The international press may talk of war, but I know dictionaries well. For me this is not war, it is genocide,” Atxaga said.
