Israel arrests dozens of Palestinians in the West Bank and continues its demolition campaigns and raids
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The Palestinian Prisoners’ Club reported that Israeli occupation forces have arrested at least 35 Palestinians since Wednesday evening, during ongoing raids in various areas of the West Bank, including occupied Jerusalem.
Several cities and towns in the West Bank witnessed raids and mass arrests, most notably in the town of Kafr Qaddum, east of Qalqilya, where Murad Shteiwi, director of the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, was arrested after his home was raided. He was interrogated on the spot before being released.
Local sources reported that occupation forces converted a number of Palestinian homes into military barracks and closed the entrances to some towns, particularly in Kafr Qaddum, where local media documented extensive damage to citizens’ homes and their contents during the raid.
In the same context, Anadolu Agency quoted eyewitnesses as saying that the Israeli army arrested nine citizens from Allar and Saida, north of Tulkarm, two from Nablus, and five from Jenin. Two citizens from Bethlehem, and a young man and a minor from Hebron were also arrested.
In occupied Jerusalem, 93 settlers stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque during the morning, under the protection of the Israeli police, where they performed Talmudic rituals. Meanwhile, the police continued to prevent Palestinian worshippers from entering.
In the town of Al-Mughayyir, east of Ramallah, Israeli forces demolished a home on the grounds of “building without a permit,” according to the head of the Al-Mughayyir Village Council, Amin Abu Aliya. He explained that this is the third demolition in the town in recent times, amid threats to demolish more than 70 other homes.
Abu Aliya considered these policies to constitute “collective punishment” aimed at displacing residents and seizing their lands.