Israeli forces arrest eight people, demolish homes during West Bank incursions: Report
Israeli forces have carried out a series of violent overnight raids in the occupied West Bank. According to the Wafa news agency, they:
- Carried out field interrogations and arrested six people in the town of Qabatiya, near Jenin
- Shot live bullets in the city of Jericho, injuring two people
- Demolished two houses in the town of al-Khader, near Bethlehem, and fired tear gas to stop locals from intervening
- Raided a man’s family home in the town of Bayt Jala, near Bethlehem, before arresting him
- Arrested a young man in the town of Bal’a, near Tulkarem.
Number of Palestinian detainees held by Israel surpasses 11,000
Israel is currently holding more than 11,100 Palestinians in prison, a 25-year high, according to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society. The majority of those in Israeli custody are being held without trial, said the group. Four hundred of those in custody are children and 49 are women, it said.
As we’ve reported, Israel has carried out near-daily arrest campaigns in the occupied West Bank during the war in Gaza, often damaging infrastructure and raiding homes in the process.
In numbers: Israeli attacks across occupied West Bank
While Israeli attacks have intensified across Gaza, its army is also continuing its assault across the occupied West Bank.
Since October 7, 2023:
- At least 1,032 people, including 210 children, have been killed in attacks by the army and settlers
- More than 9,792 people have been wounded
- At least 18,800 have been arrested.
Palestinian killed by Israeli forces in West Bank refugee camp
A young Palestinian man, Muhammad Jamal Omar Madani, has been killed by Israeli forces in the Balata refugee camp, east of Nablus, in the occupied West Bank, according to medical sources.
The 25-year-old was killed after Israeli special forces entered the camp using a vehicle bearing Palestinian licence plates and surrounded a house, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.
Reinforcements then entered the camp, firing live ammunition and tear gas canisters, Wafa said.
Israel’s West Bank settlement plans a ‘red line’: UAE
The UAE warned Israel that any annexation of the occupied West Bank would constitute a red line that would severely undermine the spirit of the Abraham Accords that normalised relations between the two countries.
“From the very beginning, we viewed the Accords as a way to enable our continued support for the Palestinian people and their legitimate aspiration for an independent state,” Lana Nusseibeh, a UAE Foreign Ministry official, told the Reuters news agency.
“That was our position in 2020, and it remains our position today.”
Israeli forces demolish under-construction minaret in West Bank
Israeli forces have demolished an under-construction minaret in Dura, south of Hebron.
The Palestinian Wafa news agency reported that “Israeli forces, accompanied by bulldozers, stormed the town of Dura … forced residents to evacuate … closed the roads and bulldozed a minaret under construction for the suburb’s mosque.”
