Several wounded in West Bank confrontations with Israeli forces

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
18 Dec 2023 22:36

The Israeli occupation forces raid several West Bank cities and towns, leading to confrontations with local youths.

Friends and relatives attend the funeral of Palestinians killed during an Israeli raid on the Fara refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, occupied Palestine, December 18, 2023 (AP)

The Israeli occupation forces on Monday shut down the entrances to several towns and villages in Ramallah and Nablus in the occupied West Bank.

The IOF also imposed a lockdown and prevented the Palestinian people from making any movements within the closed-off areas.

Israeli occupation forces stormed the western area of Nablus city, as well, with the Palestinian Red Crescent reporting that two young men were injured by live ammunition during confrontations in the town of Tell, near Nablus.

In Ramallah, an Al Mayadeen correspondent reported that occupation forces raided the downtown Birzeit and searched several stores in the area.

Our correspondent also reported that photojournalist Ramzi Awwad was injured by the Israeli occupation forces after they opened fire on him while he was covering what was going on in the town of Jifna, north of Ramallah.

The al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades in Ramallah announced that its fighters managed to target a settler's car near the "Atara" settlement north of Ramallah, adding that the fighter who carried out the operation withdrew safely.

The Palestinian Prisoners Information Office reported that Israeli occupation forces have arrested 35 Palestinians in the West Bank and al-Quds, including 3 women, in the past few hours.

The arrests were concentrated in al-Khalil and occupied al-Quds, in addition to Beit Lahm, Ramallah, Tulkarm, Areeha, and Tubas.

With the arrest of 35 Palestinians today, the total number of detentions since Operation Al-Aqsa Flood has risen to approximately 4,575 cases.

It is worth noting that the IOF carried out a mass detention campaign, with widespread incursions, harassment, brutal beatings, and threats against detainees and their families, along with field investigation operations, particularly in the town of Abwein in Ramallah, accompanied by extensive destruction and ransacking of civilians' home.

IOF killed 505 Palestinians in West Bank since the beginning of 2023

As Operation Al-Aqsa Flood unfolds, the Israeli occupation has intensified its aggression on West Bank cities, engaging in widespread detention campaigns, and carrying out killings, amid a rise in settlers' violence.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced, on Sunday, that the total number of Palestinians killed in the occupied West Bank by the Israeli occupation this year has reached 505 people, including 111 children.

Early on Sunday morning, two Palestinian youths were martyred and others were critically injured in the Nour Shams refugee camp in Tulkarm, in the occupied West Bank, as Israeli occupation forces conducted a drone strike. Additionally, another Palestinian was killed by Israeli forces in Jenin.

Coinciding with continuous raids on cities and towns of the West Bank, the Israeli occupation has escalated its oppressive actions by heavily employing drone strikes as a means of "policing" the region.

Tulkarm and its refugee camp have seen a major share of the Israeli aggression, with dozens of Palestinians killed and injured, civilian infrastructure badly damaged, and hundreds arrested in multiple raids and incursions on the Palestinian governorate.