Israeli forces arrest Palestinian freed in last exchange deal
The Wafa news agency is reporting that Israeli soldiers have arrested Dania Hanatsheh, a student at Birzeit University, after raiding her family’s home in the town of Baqat al-Hatab in Qalqilya in the occupied West Bank.
Wafa said Hanatsheh was among the Palestinian prisoners released by Israel in a prisoner-captive exchange deal in late 2023.
Israeli soldiers also arrested a young man from Tulkarem at a military checkpoint near Jericho, the agency reported.
Israel to return 20 Palestinian patients from East Jerusalem to Gaza: Report
The Wafa news agency is reporting that Israeli authorities are planning to send 20 Palestinian patients who had been receiving treatment at hospitals in occupied East Jerusalem back to the Gaza Strip.
The agency cited the Israeli advocacy group, Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHRI), and said the patients and their companions are due to be returned to Gaza later today.
The individuals – who include two cancer patients and a person who underwent open heart surgery – face severe health risks if returned to Gaza due to a lack of medical care and the ongoing conflict there, PHRI was quoted as saying.
“Israel’s decision to return patients to the Gaza Strip, after having devastated its healthcare system and continuing its attacks on it, is wrong from medical, legal, and moral perspectives” PHRI said.
“Continuous follow-up and access to appropriate health services are crucial to their care. This decision not only jeopardizes their health but also undermines the fundamental principle of continuity of care.”
Palestinian child with cirrhosis deprived of treatment due to Israeli blockade
Hammam Khudair, 10, who suffers from liver cirrhosis, lives with his family on the roof of al-Tabin mosque in northern Gaza City.
Connected to a special breathing device, his health is deteriorating daily due to his inability to access medical care amid relentless Israeli attacks.
Israeli forces injured 4 in Nablus, occupied West Bank: Ministry
The Palestinian Ministry of Health says Palestinians wounded by Israeli soldiers’ bullets have arrived at Rafidia Hospital in Nablus, including one seriously injured in the abdomen and head. Several hours ago, violent clashes took place between Palestinian fighters and the Israeli forces in the Old City of Nablus in the northern West Bank.
Israeli forces arrest 14 Palestinians in West Bank
The overnight arrests mainly targeted former prisoners, according to the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society.
The arrests were reported from many occupied West Bank governorates, including Bethlehem, Hebron, Ramallah, Nablus and Tulkarem, the two organisations said in a statement.
Tractors ‘working non-stop’ demolishing Palestinian structures: Ben-Gvir
The far-right Israeli national security minister says in a post on X that authorities plan to keep demolishing Palestinian structures. His post also had a photo of a tractor demolishing a structure in al-Ram, north of occupied Jerusalem.
Itamar Ben-Gvir has been subject to domestic criticism amid rising security incidents in Israel, most recently a bomb blast in Tel Aviv claimed by Hamas and a hammer attack in the occupied West Bank that killed an Israeli security guard.
According to the Wafa news agency, Israeli forces have taken measurements of a house in a village east of Qalqilya in the occupied West Bank in preparation to demolish it. The house is owned by the Abdul Ghani family, a member of which is accused of carrying out the attack.
Israeli military forces continue to impose tight military measures at checkpoints surrounding Qalqilya for a second day in a row.
הטרקטור של אכיפת החוק פועל ללא הפסקה, וכעת הוא מבצע הריסת מבנה לא חוקי בלב העיר רמלה. משבח את ממ"ז מרכז ניצב אבי ביטון, לוחמי היס"מ וגורמי האכיפה האזרחית על הנחישות. pic.twitter.com/U2t2YPpJEz
— איתמר בן גביר (@itamarbengvir) August 19, 2024
Translation: The law enforcement tractor works non-stop, and is now demolishing an illegal building in the heart of Ramla city. I praise the MMAZ Center Chief Avi Biton, the HSM fighters and the civil enforcement officials for their determination.
Israeli settlement expansion in West Bank defies international law: UN
The UN Human Rights Office has said it is “alarmed by Israel’s recent and ongoing settlement expansion and legal changes in the occupied West Bank; measures which fly in the face of international law, including a landmark ruling by the International Court of Justice in July”.
It also said that illegal settlements, settler violence and the presence of settlers are the root causes of the majority of human rights violations in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
The statement said the recently-announced construction of a new settlement of Nahal Heletz west of Bethlehem “severely compromises the livelihoods, safety and movement of Palestinians living in five surrounding villages, while posing a significant threat to the contiguity and viability of a Palestinian state”.
