Israeli forces arrest four people, demolish business in West Bank: Report
Israeli forces have carried out a familiar wave of raids and arrests across the occupied West Bank, reports the Wafa news agency.
During their raids, they apprehended three people, including a 65-year-old man, in the village of Beit Sira, near Ramallah, Wafa reports. In the same village, Israeli military vehicles also demolished a local cafe, claiming it was built without a permit, Wafa reports.
In the nearby village of Rammun, Israeli forces detained three more men and subjected them to field interrogations, before releasing them, according to the agency. Israeli forces detained a seventh man at a military checkpoint near Jericho, said Wafa.
Israel makes more arrests in West Bank raids
Israeli forces have rounded up more Palestinians in several raids in the occupied West Bank, the Wafa news agency reports.
During several raids near Tulkarem, they arrested six people, including three women, according to Wafa. They also apprehended the brother of the head of the village council of al-Maniya near Bethlehem, Wafa reported.
EU ‘appalled’ after Israel demolishes West Bank school it was funding
The European Union has condemned Israel’s demolition earlier this month of a school in the occupied West Bank village of Aqqaba that was being built with EU and French funding.
The school, torn down by Israeli authorities on August 5, had been intended to serve hundreds of Palestinian children.
In a statement, an EU spokesperson said the bloc is “appalled” by the demolition and “expects its investments in support of the Palestinian people to be protected from damage and destruction by Israel, in accordance with international law”.
France also previously condemned the demolition, stating it is “holding the Israeli authorities to account for this action”.
Palestine calls for ‘binding international measures’ against Israeli settler violence
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has called for an end to what it describes as escalating settler attacks in the occupied West Bank.
In a statement, the ministry said it viewed “with utmost seriousness the escalation in violations, attacks, and crimes committed by settlers against Palestinian citizens, their land, and their properties across the occupied West Bank”.
The ministry accused settlers of acting “under the protection of occupation forces” while seeking to impose control over Palestinian land “by force of arms”.
It condemned the use of bulldozers to carve out settlement roads in the town of Deir Dibwan and surrounding areas, calling it “a continuous daily targeting of citizens and their lands … with the aim of deepening and expanding colonial settlement there”.
“All unilateral actions by the occupation are illegal and do not grant it any legitimacy or right, in accordance with international law and United Nations resolutions,” the ministry said.
It urged “decisive international measures to protect the opportunity to implement the two-state solution and to stop the crimes of genocide, displacement, starvation, and annexation”.
