The Israeli occupation army arrested more than 70 Palestinians on Saturday during raids on various areas of the occupied West Bank , including more than 40 people in the town of Tell near the city of Nablus, while 8 others were injured in an attack carried out by settlers on the village of Far’ata, east of Qalqilya.
In the northern West Bank, the official “Voice of Palestine” radio station said that “the occupation forces arrested more than 40 young men during their ongoing raid on the town of Tell.”
She added that Israeli forces seized one of the houses and turned it into a field investigation center, and continue to carry out extensive raids on homes, while imposing a siege on the town from all sides.
These arrests come a day after an attack by settlers, under the protection of the Israeli army, on the town of Tell, which resulted in the deaths of four Palestinians and injuries to four others. Two Israelis were also killed in a shootout that erupted as residents confronted the attack, according to Palestinian and Israeli sources.
Following the events in the town, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Defense Minister Yisrael Katz decided to launch a large-scale military operation in the West Bank.
For its part, the Israeli army radio reported that the army “raided the home of the perpetrator of the Tel town attack and began engineering survey work in preparation for its demolition.”
The radio station reported that Israeli forces conducted field investigations with dozens of Palestinians and arrested some of them for further investigation.
For its part, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA said that the occupation army imposed conditions on the burial of the bodies of the four Palestinians who were killed on Friday.
She added that only a limited number of residents of the town of Tel were able to hold the funeral for the four bodies “due to the restrictions imposed by the occupation forces on the number of participants in the funeral.”
In the context of the raid, local sources reported that the Israeli occupation army uprooted hundreds of olive trees and bulldozed large areas of agricultural land in the town of Tel.
In Qalqilya (north), the Palestinian Red Crescent Society announced in a statement that 8 Palestinians were injured, including 6 by gunfire, as a result of an attack by settlers on the village of Far'ata, east of the city, without providing further details.
In the northern West Bank, the Israeli army also arrested at least six Palestinians during a large-scale raid on neighborhoods and towns in Jenin, coinciding with a heavy deployment and ongoing military movements, according to the Wafa news agency.
The agency reported that the Israeli army carried out raids and searches of several homes, while its military operations continued in various parts of Jenin. It also stormed the city of Tubas and the al-Far'a refugee camp (north), launching a large-scale raid on Palestinian homes.
In the central West Bank, the occupation army arrested 13 Palestinians from various areas of the Ramallah and Al-Bireh governorate, according to Wafa.
In the southern West Bank, the occupation army stormed the city of Hebron and arrested 8 Palestinians, while it carried out an arrest campaign in the city of Bethlehem that targeted three Palestinians after raiding and searching their homes.
The occupied West Bank has witnessed an escalation in attacks by the Israeli army and settlers since the start of the war of extermination on the Gaza Strip in October 2023, resulting in the martyrdom of 87 Palestinians since the beginning of this year.
Since October 2023, more than 1,182 Palestinians have been killed and thousands injured in the West Bank, in addition to the arrest of about 24,000, according to official Palestinian data.
