What’s happening in the occupied West Bank?
Israeli forces have carried out a familiar wave of violent raids across the occupied West Bank, according to Wafa news agency. So far today, the agency reports that Israeli forces have:
- Stormed into Balata refugee camp, near Nablus, and raided several houses, forcing 14 families to leave their homes and detaining and interrogating a group of young men.
- Continued a raid in Jaba, near Jenin, for a second day, and forced 35 families there to leave their homes.
- Shot and wounded a Palestinian near Bethlehem.
- Closed off two entrances to the town of Tuqu, near Bethlehem, severely disrupting residents’ movements.
Israeli army shoots Palestinian in West Bank
The Israeli army says it “neutralized” an armed man with a knife who attempted to stab Israeli soldiers and seize their weapons as they were operating in the village of al-Walaja in the occupied West Bank.
“The fighters responded with fire and neutralized the terrorist,” the army said on Telegram.
While it is not clear whether it refers to the same incident, Palestine’s Wafa news agency reported that in al-Walaja, a young man, identified as Ali Hamza Hajajleh, 22, was shot “from close range” by Israeli soldiers after they had raided his house and arrested him.
He was seriously wounded, the agency added.
In separate reports, the Palestinian news agency said Israeli troops conducted multiple overnight raids in the Palestinian territory, including in the town of Birzeit, west of Ramallah, and the town of Burqin, west of Jenin.
The Israeli-occupied territory has been under lockdown since last week as the Israeli army, while bombing Iran, sealed the entrances of cities and villages there with iron gates and concrete barriers.
Poll: Over half of UK citizens oppose Israel’s war on Gaza
A poll commissioned by the NGO Action for Humanity in collaboration with the International Centre for Justice for Palestinians and conducted by YouGov shows that 55 percent of UK respondents oppose Israel’s actions in Gaza, while only 15 percent support them.
Here are some other key data points from the poll:
- Of those who polled as opposing Israel’s actions, 82 percent believe they amount to genocide.
- This translates to 45 percent of adults in the UK who view Israel’s actions as genocidal.
- Among Labour voters in the country’s 2024 general elections, the number is even higher: 59 percent believe that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
- 65 percent of the public support the UK enforcing the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
