The Israeli army launched a large-scale military campaign at dawn on Wednesday targeting the Qalandia camp and the town of Kafr Aqab, north of occupied Jerusalem, resulting in the arrest of a number of Palestinians and the injury of two, according to local sources.
Mohammed Aslan, spokesman for the popular committee that runs the affairs of Qalandia camp, said that “large forces of the Israeli army stormed the camp in the early hours of the morning,” describing the situation as “very difficult.”
Aslan reported that the army turned citizens' homes into military barracks and field investigation centers, and launched an arrest campaign that targeted at least 20 people, while army soldiers climbed onto the roofs of a number of houses.
For its part, the Palestinian Red Crescent announced that its crews dealt with two injuries resulting from the occupation soldiers assaulting two people in Qalandia camp, one of whom was a 53-year-old man, noting that the injured were transferred to the hospital to receive treatment.
The Jerusalem Governorate reported that Israeli occupation forces imposed strict movement restrictions, including a curfew in the streets of Kafr Aqab, coinciding with a heavy deployment of military vehicles. It added that the forces sent text messages to several residents informing them of the start of a large-scale military operation in Qalandiya refugee camp, and that they arrested the father of the martyr Laith al-Shu'ani.
This campaign comes amid escalating Israeli military operations in the West Bank, and intensified raids and arrests in a number of Palestinian cities and towns.
Three houses demolished in Bethlehem
In the southern West Bank, Israeli forces demolished three Palestinian homes west and southeast of Bethlehem on Wednesday.
The Palestinian News and Information Agency (WAFA) quoted local sources as saying that “the occupation forces, accompanied by vehicles and bulldozers, stormed the Qurnat al-Da’mas area in the town of Nahalin, west of Bethlehem, and demolished two inhabited houses, each consisting of two floors, under the pretext of lack of a permit, noting that the two houses had been evacuated a week earlier after they received demolition notices.”
The sources added that “this targeting falls within a previous decision affecting 14 homes and facilities in several areas in Nahalin, where the occupation carried out demolition operations for a number of them,” noting that “the occupation forces demolished a commercial facility for selling iron, with an area of about 3,000 square meters.”
In the village of Al-Maniya, southeast of Bethlehem, Israeli forces demolished the home of an elderly citizen after they stormed the village and positioned themselves in the “Khala’il al-Qas” area to its east.
The head of the al-Munya village council, Ahmad Kawazba, explained that “the occupation forces forced the resident to evacuate his one-story house, which is about 150 square meters, before beginning to demolish it.” He added that “the occupation forces completely sealed off the area and fired tear gas and stun grenades, causing a number of residents to suffer from suffocation.”
The Palestinian News Agency indicated that “during last July, the occupation authorities carried out 80 demolition operations that affected 165 facilities, including 80 inhabited homes, eight uninhabited homes, 63 agricultural facilities, and 11 sources of livelihood, concentrated in the governorates of Qalqilya with 34 facilities, Hebron with 26 facilities, 22 in Ramallah and Al-Bireh, 16 in Bethlehem, and others.”
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