Eyewitnesses said that large forces of the Israeli occupation army stormed Balata refugee camp, east of Nablus Governorate, in the northern West Bank, at dawn today, raiding Palestinian homes and ransacking their contents.
Witnesses reported that the occupation army expelled Palestinian families from their homes, which it converted into military barracks, headquarters for its forces, and interrogation centers.
Meanwhile, the Israeli occupation forces withdrew from the Askar al-Jadid camp, adjacent to Balata camp, after a two-day military operation.
The army also carried out a series of raids on cities and towns in the West Bank, concentrated in the city of Qalqilya (north), the town of Birzeit north of Ramallah (central), and the city of Hebron (south).
60 detainees
Local sources said that the Israeli occupation forces carried out an arrest campaign in various locations in the West Bank.
The Palestinian Prisoners' Club (a non-governmental organization) and the Palestine Liberation Organization's Prisoners' Affairs Commission said in a joint statement on Wednesday that "Israeli occupation forces continue to escalate arrests and field investigations in the West Bank at a relatively rapid pace, compared to the days preceding the outbreak of the war between Iran and the occupation."
The statement said that the Israeli occupation forces arrested 60 Palestinians in the West Bank, including a woman, children, and former prisoners, without specifying the locations of the arrests.
He pointed out that the number of detainees has risen to 160 Palestinians since the beginning of this week.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said in a statement that "the General Authority of Civil Affairs (the liaison with the Israeli side) was informed of the martyrdom of Mutaz Al-Hajjleh (21 years old) by the bullets of the (Israeli) occupation in the town of Al-Walaja in the Bethlehem Governorate" in the southern West Bank.
She stated that Israeli forces "detained the body," without explaining the reasons.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Palestinian News Agency (WAFA) quoted an unnamed security source as saying that "the Israeli occupation forces attacked the young man Ali Hamza Hajajleh and fired live bullets at him from a close range after raiding his family's home and arresting him."
Wafa described Hajjajleh's injuries as "serious," before the Palestinian Ministry of Health announced his death.
This comes as the Israeli occupation army imposes a siege on the West Bank for the fifth day since the start of the Israeli aggression against Iran last Friday.
The occupation army has continued its aggression in the Jenin, Tulkarm, and Nur Shams refugee camps in the northern West Bank since January 21.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel, with American support, has been committing genocide in Gaza, leaving approximately 185,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 11,000 missing, in addition to hundreds of thousands displaced and facing famine.
In parallel with the genocide in Gaza, the Israeli occupation army and settlers escalated their attacks in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, resulting in the deaths of at least 979 Palestinians, the injury of nearly 7,000 others, and the arrest of more than 17,500.
