Israeli forces block roads, fire at locals in occupied West Bank town
Israeli forces have raided a town near Hebron in the occupied West Bank and opened fire in a town north of Tulkarem.
The Palestinian wire service Wafa reported that Israeli forces arrived in Beit Ula west of Hebron where they conducted a search of homes and installed roadblocks on the road. No arrests were reported.
Israeli forces also raided Qafin town, north of Tulkarem, and opened fire with live bullets.
Wafa reports that military vehicles moved into the town and searched its neighbourhoods. Reinforcements were dispatched to join the operation after confrontations with local Palestinians resisting the raid.
One military vehicle was damaged. There were no initial reports of casualties.
Palestinian groups clash in occupied West Bank: Analysts
Loyalties in the occupied West Bank may be shifting as security forces with the Palestinian Authority (PA) conduct a campaign against Palestinian resistance fighters, according to analysts.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a US-based think tank, said that Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) reported engaging in armed clashes with “occupation forces” in Jenin on Thursday, but that there was information on Israeli military operations in the area.
“It would be a notable inflection if PIJ began referring to the PA as ‘occupation forces’,” the ISW said. “It would, conversely, also be notable if [Israeli forces] began operating in Jenin at the same time as the PA operation against Palestinian militias,” the ISW said.
The ISW also said battles between the PA and Palestinian resistance fighters had killed three of the authority’s security forces since the start of December.
6/ Iraq: Iranian-backed Badr Organization Secretary General Hadi al Ameri inspected combat units along the Iraq-Syria border on December 26 and 27. Ameri also reviewed security and intelligence plans and emphasized the need to conduct unspecified “preemptive operations.” Ameri’s…
— Institute for the Study of War (@TheStudyofWar) December 28, 2024
Palestinian presidential guard member killed in Jenin
The official spokesman for the Palestinian security forces, Brigadier General Anwar Rajab, has confirmed the death of a commander during the continuing military operation of the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the Jenin camp in the occupied West Bank.
Major Hussein Ahmed Hassan Nassar, from the Palestinian presidential guard, was killed today after “being shot by gangs of outlaws while performing his duty”, he was quoted as saying by the official Wafa news agency.
The Palestinian National Liberation Movement, Fatah, which controls the PA, also mourned the major in a statement.
It said security forces will “continue their natural and national role in confronting the gangs of outlaws who seek, at the behest of regional parties, to fuel international conflicts in parallel context with the [Israeli] occupation’s plans for annexation and deportation”.
Last week, another member of the presidential guard was killed during the PA operation, which was launched on December 14 and has also killed a commander of the Jenin Brigade of armed factions, among others.
Israeli forces arrest 15 Palestinians in West Bank: Prisoners’ groups
The Palestinian Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society say the Israeli forces have arrested 15 Palestinians from various parts of the occupied West Bank last night and this morning, including a woman and former prisoners.
The two groups have reported arrests in the occupied governorates of Nablus, Jenin, Tulkarem, Ramallah and Hebron.
Israeli settlers attack farmers near West Bank’s Ramallah
Israeli settlers have attacked Palestinian farmers working their lands in Silwad, east of Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank.
Video footage captured by local media shows farmers with bloody wounds on their heads and faces after having been beaten. The settlers also smashed the windows of a vehicle belonging to a Palestinian resident.
Three Palestinians were injured and one was arrested, according to the Wafa news agency. Silwad Mayor Raed Nimer told the outlet that the settlers came from an outpost erected less than a month ago in the al-Burj area.
Israeli settlers have ramped up their attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank, often under the protection of Israeli soldiers, since the Hamas-led attacks on October 2023. Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law. The International Court of Justice said earlier this year that Israel’s continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territory is unlawful and should come to an end “as rapidly as possible”.
Israeli special forces seize man in Nablus: Report
The Wafa news agency reports that a special team of Israeli forces “kidnapped” a young man from al-Quds Street in the eastern area of the occupied West Bank city. Security sources quoted by Wafa named the man as Hisham Duweikat.
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