Israeli army raids the occupied West Bank as clashes continue in Jenin. Israel-Palestine conflict news
The Israeli military has carried out several new raids in the occupied West Bank as clashes continue between the Palestinian Authority and armed groups in Jenin.
Israeli forces arrested at least 18 Palestinians during a series of raids between Monday evening and Tuesday morning, the Israeli military said. The Palestinian Prisoners Society said those arrested included an injured man.
Israeli raids took place in the governorates of Nablus, Hebron, Tubas, Tulkarem, Qalqilya, Bethlehem, Salfit and Ramallah.
Like many daily incursions into the Palestinian territories, the raids were accompanied by extensive searches, demolition of homes, and detention without charge.
A young Palestinian man was killed by Israeli gunfire during an attack on the Tulkarem refugee camp at dawn on Tuesday, according to Wafa news agency. It quoted witnesses as saying that the man was shot by Israeli snipers, who then blocked ambulance crews from reaching him by firing at him. Israel said the man was killed during “hand-to-hand combat” with soldiers.
Reportedly a large force of soldiers and armored vehicles, accompanied by two heavy bulldozers, stormed the town of Tulkarem from its western axis, and headed towards the camp as drones were flying at low altitude.
Israeli military bulldozers demolished infrastructure in various areas of the camp, affecting water networks and causing power outages and internet disruptions.
Palestinian fighters reported engaging in armed clashes with Israeli forces in Tulkarem, with the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades coalition of armed groups saying the fighters used automatic weapons and explosive devices.
During a raid in Nablus, at least three Palestinians were injured and one arrested after troops attacked the Balata camp as well as the city at dawn.
Israeli forces reportedly surrounded a house in the al-Tirawi neighborhood inside the Balata camp and detained a young Palestinian, spreading to several other neighborhoods.
A day earlier a Palestinian man was shot dead at a military checkpoint for allegedly attempting to attack soldiers with a knife, following another major incursion in the town of Hizma, north of occupied Jerusalem.
Local sources quoted by Wafa agency said Israeli bulldozers demolished a resident’s house and another house under construction. During the raid they also felled olive trees with their bulldozers.
Airstrikes are rare in the West Bank compared with daily attacks in Gaza, but Israel has increasingly relied on them there as well. At least two people were killed in an Israeli drone strike on Tubas on 9 December.
Israeli settlers have also been supported by troops in almost daily attacks on Palestinian farmers in the illegally occupied territories.
Between the start of the war on Gaza and October 31, 736 Palestinians were killed in the occupied West Bank, including Jerusalem, according to the latest UN figures.
ongoing clashes in Jenin
Meanwhile, Palestinian Authority security forces have been clashing with armed Palestinian fighters in Jenin for nearly 10 days, as Israeli raids continue.
Clashes also broke out south of the occupied West Bank governorate of Tubas on Tuesday, sources told Al Jazeera Arabic. Fighting broke out after PA security forces seized equipment from a house in the city of Tammun.
Despite calls for direct intervention by regional settlement heads, Israeli forces have refrained from intruding into Jenin.
PA forces continue efforts to take full control of the city, which is seen as a stronghold of armed resistance groups.
Many civilians, PA soldiers and armed fighters have been killed since the beginning of “Operation Protect the Homeland”, including Jenin Brigade commander Yazid Jayseh.
The fighting has focused Palestinian criticism on the PA, with the umbrella group Popular Resistance Committee accusing the organization of acting “in line with the Zionist agenda”.
Last week, the United Nations Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) reported that its health center in Jenin had been taken over by armed actors and was no longer under its control. All UNRWA services, including education and humanitarian assistance, are currently closed in the camp.
According to the United Nations, eight Palestinians were killed in the occupied West Bank between 9 and 15 December.
Of these, five were killed by Israeli forces, and three by the PA. During this period, an estimated 158 Palestinians were detained by Israeli forces, and 14 Palestinians were captured by the PA.
