Arrests, clashes as Israeli forces continue West Bank raids
Israeli soldiers are continuing their raids on cities and towns across the occupied West Bank.
In the village of Silat al-Harithiya in Jenin, in the north of the occupied West Bank, Israeli soldiers arrested two young men and set fire to a house, our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic reported. In that same village, Palestinian fighters with the Jenin Battalion claimed detonating an explosive device that damaged an Israeli military vehicle.
Israeli forces also arrested a young Palestinian in Tammun, near the northern city of Tubas, after storming the town with armoured vehicles and a bulldozer. Another young man was arrested in the city of Nablus.
In the south of the occupied West Bank, Israeli soldiers raided the city of Hebron, triggering more clashes and deploying sound bombs, Wafa reported. A young Palestinian who was wounded by shrapnel from a sound bomb was also taken to hospital, the Palestinian news agency said.
مصادر محلية: قوات الاحتلال تحرق أحد المنازل خلال اقتحام منطقة الواد في بلدة السيلة الحارثية غرب جنين pic.twitter.com/iQYzCfFP4b
— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) February 9, 2025
Translation: Local sources – The occupation forces burn a house during the storming of the Wadi area in the town of Silat al-Harithiya, west of Jenin.
What’s happening in the occupied West Bank?
- Israel’s military launched a large-scale operation in the occupied West Bank, targeting what it called Iran-backed fighters, on January 21, just two days after the ceasefire in Gaza came into effect.
- Israeli forces carried out air and ground attacks on the city of Jenin and its refugee camp on that day, killing at least nine Palestinians and wounding 35 others.
- They expanded the operation to the city of Tulkarem and its two refugee camps on January 27. They went on to raid the Far’a refugee camp near the city of Tubas on February 3.
- Since the operation began, Israeli forces have killed dozens of Palestinians. As of February 6, the UN has documented 39 killings, including 25 in Jenin, 10 in Tubas and four in Tulkarem. Three more – including a pregnant woman – were killed in the Nur Shams refugee camp, near Tulkarem, on Sunday.
- The offensive has resulted in the displacement of more than 35,000 Palestinians from the Jenin, Tulkarem and Far’a refugee camps. The UN says that some 90 percent of the residents of the Jenin and Tulkarem refugee camps have been forced to flee.
- Israeli forces are attacking and laying siege to several hospitals in the camps, while also blowing up homes and destroying critical infrastructure, including roads, water networks and power lines.
- The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) says the displacement and destruction have turned the Jenin camp into a “ghost town”, while the UN human rights office says the killings and the demolition of homes “indicate ongoing violations of international law”.
Israeli military continues attacks on Jenin, Tubas in West Bank
The Israeli military has deployed more armoured vehicles, machinery and bulldozers to both Jenin and the Far’a camp south of Tubas in the occupied West Bank.
Footage verified by Al Jazeera showed bulldozers destroying more streets and infrastructure in Jenin, while several more families were forcibly displaced from their homes in Far’a this morning.
Israeli forces demolish West Bank homes, give notices to others
Israeli authorities have demolished five houses in Khallet Athaba, south of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, displacing about 40 people, mostly children and women.
Palestine’s Wafa news agency quoted local sources as saying Israeli forces stormed the area, which is in Masafer Yatta, with heavy machinery and demolished the structures, along with the main and secondary electricity and water networks in the town and a number of trees and crops surrounding the homes.
In Silwan, south of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, and in al-Issawiya, in the northeast of occupied East Jerusalem, Israeli authorities posted demolition orders on Palestinian homes and lands.
They also reportedly ordered the demolition of a house under construction in the village of Malha east of Bethlehem.
About 580 arrested by Israel in West Bank in January: Monitors
Local groups tracking Israel’s detention of Palestinian prisoners said about 580 Palestinians were arrested by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank in January.
The highest number of cases were recorded in Jenin and its refugee camp, which have been heavily besieged by the Israeli military for 21 days.
At least 60 children were among the arrested, along with 17 women, the groups said in a statement. Hundreds more people were subjected to field interrogations by Israeli soldiers.
Israeli forces displace more Palestinians from West Bank’s Nur Shams
Footage obtained by Al Jazeera shows dozens more Palestinians are being displaced by the Israeli military from the Nur Shams refugee camp near Tulkarem in the occupied West Bank.
Israeli forces are also keeping up their attacks on infrastructure in the area, destroying roads and homes.
Palestinians flee occupied West Bank camp as Israeli army attacks
Palestinian residents have accused the Israeli military of destroying the Nur Shams refugee camp in the northern occupied West Bank. Sounds of explosion and gunfire can be heard during the Israeli assault.
“The situation is catastrophic in the camp,” Ibtisam Abu Zahra, a resident, told Anadolu news agency.
Ahmed al-Izza, an elderly Palestinian, said Israeli troops imposed a movement ban in the camp. “Israeli soldiers stormed our houses and forced us to leave,” he said.
“Destruction is everywhere in the camp. Residents who remained are waiting for their turn. The camp is surrounded and Israeli forces are raiding all houses.”
Assad Abu Zahra was forced to flee the al-Manshiyya neighbourhood with his mother.
“Around 40 soldiers broke into the house and destroyed everything. Today, we are living a new Nakba, like the one lived by our people in 1948,” he said.
‘Unpatriotic act’: Hamas, Islamic Jihad condemn PA decree on payments
Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad condemned the Palestinian Authority (PA) for issuing a decree restructuring aid programmes for families of those imprisoned or killed by Israel – fulfilling a longstanding US demand.
“Stopping the allocations for the families of prisoners, martyrs, and the wounded is an unpatriotic act and we call for its immediate reversal,” Hamas said in a statement.
Islamic Jihad said the PA’s decision “represents a clear abandonment of the issue of prisoners, which is as big as the homeland, and a clear concession in the face of American and Zionist pressures and blackmail”.
It called the move “an attempt to weaken the morale of our people and a betrayal of the prisoners who are offering years of their lives steadfastly behind bars, and a punishment of the Palestinian people for their adherence to their legitimate right to resistance and adherence to their land and rights”.
