Israel kills one Palestinian, arrests dozens and blows up Al-Arouri’s house in the West Bank
Israel killed an elderly Palestinian in the West Bank, bombed the home of Hamas leader Saleh Al-Arouri and arrested more than 60 wanted people, before Palestinian settlers attacked Qalqilya in the northern West Bank and 2 settlers were stabbed, in another opportunity. hot day in the West Bank.
The Israeli army stormed most of the West Bank cities and camps on Tuesday in large-scale operations, which it has been carrying out day and night since Hamas’ sudden attack (Al-Aqsa flood) on October 7, which left 1,400 Israelis dead, with the aim of killing and arresting wanted people.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced that the elderly Rawhi Rashid Sawafta (70 years old) was killed by Israeli army gunfire after being shot directly in the face during the army’s assault on the city of Tubas, in the northern West Bank.
The army stormed Tubas, along with other areas such as Bethlehem, Hebron, Ramallah, Nablus, Jenin and Tulkarem, aiming to arrest Palestinians before violent clashes broke out.
The Israeli army arrested Nader Sawafta, a Hamas official, from Tubas, after a pursuit that lasted several weeks. Meanwhile, 10 Palestinians were injured by live ammunition, a scene that is repeated almost daily in most Palestinian governorates.
In the village of Aroura, northwest of Ramallah, the Israeli army blew up the house of Saleh Al-Arouri, deputy head of the political bureau of Hamas, after seizing it for two weeks, and transformed it at an intelligence headquarters.
Large forces stormed the village, surrounded the house, then blew it up completely and raised a banner reading “Hamas = ISIS” over its rubble.
Israel accuses Al-Arouri, deputy head of the political bureau of Hamas, originally from the West Bank and responsible for it, of being behind Hamas’ infrastructure in the West Bank and Lebanon, and of having worked on the project. idea of connecting the squares.
Al-Arouri topped the list of Israeli targets among Hamas leaders living abroad, even before the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation, and later became one of the 6 “Hamas” members Israel wants assassinate. any cost. Israel says Al-Arouri lives in Lebanon under the protection of Hezbollah.
In Tulkarm, Jenin, Nablus and Bethlehem, the Israeli army faced resistance from Palestinians, some of which included the use of weapons.
The “Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades – Rapid Response” and the “Al-Quds Brigades – Tulkarem Battalion” claimed to have captured “a foot force of the occupation army in a narrow ambush in the Shuweika (Tulkarem) area )”. They added in a joint statement: “Our mujahideen targeted the armed forces by firing a heavy amount of projectiles at them, and we confirm that there were casualties among their ranks.”
The killing of the elderly Sawafta brings to 125 the number of people killed by Israel since October 7 in the West Bank, including the child Muhammad Abdel Qader Al-Kharraz (14 years old), who died on Tuesday when he was hit by live ammunition during the assault of Israeli occupation forces at the village of Zawata, west of Nablus, on Tuesday and Monday, while more than 2,000 Palestinians were injured and around 1,600 arrested.
Videos posted by activists on social media show scenes from Tuesday’s arrest campaign, in which Israeli soldiers abuse detainees through violent and humiliating beatings and insults.
Most of these incursions occurred in the early morning, an approach that Israel continued to follow after October 7, in an attempt to keep the entire West Bank in a tense and defensive position day and night.
The Israeli army usually launched its raids in the early evening and finished before dawn, after which Palestinians continued their normal lives, but the raids began in the morning and at other times of the day, significantly confusing public life in the West Bank.
Israel intensified its measures in the West Bank after the Hamas operation, launched the alert, completely closed the West Bank and turned it into ghettos after besieging cities and villages with iron gates, concrete blocks and barriers Earth. It also began arming settlers under the pretext of fear of escalation of tensions in the West Bank.
Settlers attacked a group of Palestinians on Tuesday near the Karnei Shomron settlement near Qalqilya in the northern West Bank. The Palestinians, most of whom were sheep herders, defended themselves and the clashes resulted in injuries on both sides.
The Fatah movement issued a statement on Tuesday warning against “the growing escalation of the occupation, the further arming of settlers and the continued shedding of our blood,” and called on Palestinians in the West Bank to defend themselves in the face of the threat occupation and colonizers “no matter how great the sacrifices”.
The movement also warned against “the isolation of detainees by the occupation and the escalation of its repressive measures against them,” stressing: “We and our people will support them in all circumstances.”