Israeli Forces, Settlers Escalate Raids, Demolitions And Arrests In West Bank

Ramallah, Sept. 10 (Petra) Israeli forces and settlers continued a military escalation across the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem on Thursday, carrying out demolitions and land leveling, a wide-ranging arrest campaign and renewed violations against Palestinian holy sites and land.

Akram Badr, head of the Beit Jala village council, said in a statement that Israeli forces, accompanied by military bulldozers, raided the village and demolished the 170-square-meter home of Mohammad Shaher Oweina in the Al-Zuqaq area.

He added that Israeli soldiers raided the home of Kamel Obeidat after forcing open its gate and climbed onto its roof. He said the area of land in Beit Jala classified as Area B does not exceed 1,600 dunams, while the rest of the village's land falls within Area C, restricting the natural urban expansion of residents.

The occupation also tightens restrictions on residents and prevents them from building and expanding naturally, as part of a policy aimed at pushing them to leave their land, he added.

Israeli forces also arrested 33 Palestinians on Thursday, including two journalists, minors and former prisoners, during a wide-ranging campaign of raids and searches across several West Bank governorates.

The Palestinian Prisoners' Club said in a statement that the arrests were concentrated in the governorates of Nablus, Bethlehem, Hebron, Jenin, Tubas and Tulkarm. Israeli forces arrested 17 people in Nablus, seven in Bethlehem, three in Hebron, one in Jenin, two in Tubas and three in Tulkarm, it said.

Those arrested included journalists Sabri Musa Jibril and Muath Ammarna from Bethlehem Governorate, as well as minors and several former prisoners, including one who had been released only days earlier.

In Jenin, an Israeli special forces unit infiltrated the Interior Ministry roundabout area before arresting a former prisoner, according to the Prisoners' Media Office.

The Prisoners' Club added that Israeli forces raided dozens of homes during the campaign, searched them, ransacked some of their contents and caused damage. It described the targeting of journalists, children and former prisoners as part of a "continued policy of abuse and arrest against Palestinians." Meanwhile, extremist Jewish settlers entered the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Noble Sanctuary, in occupied Jerusalem on Thursday through the Moroccan Gate under heavy protection from Israeli police, according to a statement from the Islamic Waqf Department in Jerusalem.

The settlers entered in groups and conducted provocative tours of the eastern courtyards, performing Talmudic rituals, dances and chants in what Palestinian groups described as a violation of the status quo at the mosque.

Israeli forces prevented worshippers and Jerusalem residents from entering the mosque and detained their identification documents at the gates. They also deployed military checkpoints in the alleys and markets of the Old City and on roads leading to the gates of Al-Aqsa, searching passers-by and checking their identification.

//Petra// AF

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