At least 11, including children, injured in Israeli raids near Nablus
Israeli settlers and soldiers storm occupied West Bank towns, make arrests days after intensified violence in town of Tal. Click here to share on social
Israeli settlers and soldiers storm occupied West Bank towns, make arrests days after intensified violence in town of Tal. Click here to share on social media Israeli settlers escorted by soldiers have stormed the town of Tal and other areas southwest of Nablus in the latest escalation of violence and tensions in the occupied West Bank. At least 11 Palestinians, including four children, were injured during a raid by Israeli settlers and soldiers in the Junaid neighbourhood of Nablus on Friday, medical sources told Al Jazeera. Israeli forces fired bullets as well as stun grenades and tear gas canisters, residents said. At least one of the injured was shot in the stomach, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society.
Israeli soldiers detained at least 10 people across the occupied West Bank on Friday, including from Nablus, Tal, Salem and Bethlehem, Palestinian media reported. Video published on Friday by multiple Palestinian online accounts and verified by Al Jazeera showed Israeli soldiers gathering in numbers in Tal. Al Jazeera correspondents reported settlers and soldiers entering the Ain al-Mazrab area of Tal and the al-Ameriya area west of Nablus, then leaving. In a statement on Friday, the Israeli military said āIsraeli civiliansā had entered Area A of the occupied West Bank, which is prohibited under Israeli law. All have since left the Nablus area, the statement added. It also said the army received reports that a Palestinian cemetery was vandalised.
On Thursday morning, Israeli forces had raided Tal, seizing four Palestinian homes and converting them into military barracks. That happened as Israeli settlers called for a large-scale march on Tal on Friday in retaliation for the deaths of two Israelis who were part of a group of settlers who attacked the town last week. Four Palestinians were killed and several wounded then. It was one of the worst Israeli settler incursions in recent weeks as Israelis set Palestinian homes and vehicles on fire. Settler attacks have escalated across the occupied West Bank recently. Israeli soldiers have also been raiding communities and arresting people in the Tal and Nablus areas throughout this week and have effectively imposed a blockade on the area.
On Friday, raids were also reported on Ramallahās Qaddura refugee camp, where Israeli forces fired tear gas and detained one person. Elsewhere on Friday, Israeli forces arrested several people in Tal; one man in the Wadi Shahin area of Bethlehem and another man in Anabta, east of Tulkarem. Soldiers also briefly detained and later released several young men during a raid in Salfit, reported the Palestinian news agency WAFA. On Thursday evening, WAFA reported gunshot injuries to a manās neck when Israeli soldiers fired on his car in the town of Beita, south of Nablus.
The BriefWire