Israeli forces arrest 3 brothers in occupied West Bank raid
Israeli forces have stormed the Palestinian village of Amatin, near Qalqilya in the occupied West Bank, and arrested three brothers, reports the Wafa news agency. At the same time, Israeli forces carried out violent raids in Qalandiya, near Ramallah, shooting and seriously wounding one man.
Raids have also been conducted in several neighborhoods in Nablus, but no injuries or arrests have been reported so far.
‘Rising violence undermining health system in West Bank’
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) warns that escalating violence in the occupied West Bank threatens to collapse the health system as humanitarian organisations suspend their activities.
The West Bank is facing the worst violence since the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) began keeping records in 2005, the IRC said.
“Rising violence is undermining the health system in the West Bank, as hospitals are not prepared to handle mass casualty incidents, nor withstand continued attacks on facilities and personnel,” Bart Witteveen, the IRC’s country director for the occupied Palestinian territory, said in a statement.
The organisation added: “Israel must uphold its obligations to ensure immediate and active protection of civilians and health care services in the West Bank.”
Anger builds over ‘savage’ occupied West Bank rooftop assault
As we’ve been reporting, footage of Israeli soldiers kicking an apparently dead body off a rooftop in Qabatiya in the occupied West Bank has generated angry reactions in Palestine and abroad.
Mustafa Barghouti, secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative, told Al Jazeera the footage shows “absolutely savage and inhuman behaviour”.
While Israel’s military has said the incident is “under review”, Shawan Jabarin, director of Palestinian rights group Al-Haq, doubts there will be a proper investigation.
“The most that will happen is that soldiers will be disciplined, but there will be no real investigation and no real prosecution,” said Jabarin.
Israel says commander among 7 killed in Qabatiya
The Israeli military says Shadi Zakarneh, who the army and Shin Bet identify as the head of a fighter cell in the occupied West Bank’s Qabatiya city, was among seven Palestinians killed on Thursday.
During the raid in Qabatiya near Jenin, Israeli troops killed four Palestinians in an exchange of fire, the military said. Several hours later, the Israeli army carried out a drone strike against alleged gunmen who were in a car, killing three.
Zakarneh was among those killed in that drone attack, it said.
