The Israeli army continued on Saturday to impose a siege on the city of Hebron in the southern occupied West Bank for the second consecutive day, as part of a military operation launched on Friday. This operation included forcing dozens of Palestinians to evacuate their homes, coinciding with the arrest of 19 Palestinians in various areas of the West Bank.
In the same context, the Israeli army imposed a closure on the city following a shooting attack on an Israeli checkpoint, which resulted in the death of the attackers and two Israeli soldiers, and injured three others, according to Israeli data. According to the official Palestinian news agency "Wafa", large forces of the army raided and completely besieged the "Al-Jalda" and "Deir Baheh" areas in the center of the city, then forced dozens of citizens to evacuate their homes and stand in the open air in the early hours of dawn.
On his part, this was accompanied by the army reinforcing the deployment of its vehicles and military bulldozers, closing all main entrances and roads leading to and connecting to the city of Hebron, and isolating it from its surroundings, along with a campaign of raiding and searching homes. The army forces also detained dozens of citizens in the city and subjected them to field interrogations before releasing them on Saturday morning.
He noted that the campaign included arrests in various areas of the West Bank, affecting two citizens from the Handaza area and Al-Azza camp in Bethlehem Governorate, 16 citizens from Nablus Governorate in the northern West Bank, and the arrest of a young man from Aqaba Jabr camp in Jericho. The West Bank, including occupied Jerusalem, is facing an escalation in Israeli army attacks and settler terrorism since the start of the Gaza war in October/Thawin I 2023.
He added that these practices include killing and arresting Palestinians, demolishing homes and structures, burning mosques and vehicles, plowing agricultural lands, preventing farmers from reaching their fields, displacing Palestinian communities, along with settlement expansion. Palestinians warn that these practices pave the way for Israel to formally annex the West Bank, undermining the possibility of establishing a Palestinian state in accordance with relevant UN resolutions.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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