The Palestinian News Agency (WAFA) reported that an Israeli vehicle deliberately collided with a bus carrying pilgrims as it was preparing to leave from outside the Jenin Governorate Square to the Karameh crossing in Jericho, which connects Jordan and the Palestinian territories. No injuries were reported, but the bus sustained damage.
WAFA quoted Jenin Deputy Governor Mansour al-Saadi as saying, "The occupation vehicle deliberately and directly collided with the pilgrims' bus while it was parked in front of the governorate square. The bus was carrying pilgrims from the families of martyrs and wounded, most of whom were elderly, and some of whom suffered from chronic diseases, which led to terrorizing the residents."
In the town of Silat al-Harithiya, west of Jenin, Israeli forces arrested a Palestinian youth after storming the town and raiding his home, according to eyewitnesses.
Witnesses reported that an explosive device exploded as forces withdrew from the town.
In Tulkarm, in the northern West Bank, occupation forces arrested a young Palestinian woman after raiding her home in the town of Anabta, east of the city, according to WAFA.
On January 21, the Israeli occupation army launched a military aggression in the northern West Bank, starting with the city of Jenin, its camp, and surrounding towns. It then expanded its aggression to the city of Tulkarm on the 27th of the same month.
In Nablus, in the northern West Bank, Israeli vehicles stormed the Askar al-Jadid refugee camp east of the city and the al-Ain refugee camp west of it, amidst the firing of live ammunition and sound bombs.
Israeli raids also included the city of Dura, south of Hebron, and the town of Beit Rima, west of Ramallah, leading to clashes with Palestinian youths.
Threat of settlement expansion
Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz said on Friday that Israel will establish a "Jewish state" in the occupied West Bank.
Katz explained in a statement issued by his office that "this is a decisive response to the terrorist organizations that are trying to harm us and weaken our grip on this land. It is also a clear message to (French President Emmanuel) Macron and his friends: They will recognize a Palestinian state on paper, and we will build the Jewish Israeli state here on the ground," he said.
On Friday, Macron said that recognizing a Palestinian state is not "just a moral duty, but a political demand," setting out conditions for taking this step.
In parallel with the annihilation of Gaza, the Israeli occupation army and settlers escalated their attacks in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, resulting in the deaths of at least 972 Palestinians, the injury of approximately 7,000, and the arrest of more than 17,000, according to Palestinian data.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel, with full American support, has been waging a war of extermination in Gaza, leaving more than 178,000 Palestinians dead or wounded, most of them children and women, more than 11,000 missing, and hundreds of thousands displaced.
