IOF storms Ramallah city center, wounding 58 civilians, including a child
Original article by Peoples Dispatch republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.
The offensive is considered a major escalation as it took place in Ramallah, the political and administrative hub of the Palestinian Authority.
Daily raids carried out by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) have for decades been routine for Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank. However, Ramallah city center has been relatively safe compared to other areas, largely since the second intifada ended in 2005.
This isn’t to say that such relative calm extends to the entire governorate of Ramallah and Al-Bireh; it applies exclusively to the few square kilometers surrounding the Palestinian Authority (PA) headquarters near the center of the city.
Although this particular part of the city was previously subjected to IOF raids, such offensives happened rarely, for a brief time and usually not during daytime.
In a major escalation, the IOF stormed Ramallah city center on Tuesday, August 26, at rush hour in the afternoon, shooting at passersby and a journalist’s vehicle. Eyewitnesses and media workers reported the use of live ammunition, rubber-coated steel bullets, and gas canisters during the raid.
Those taking part in a sit-in to commemorate the National Day for the Recovery of the Bodies of Slain Palestinians, a day when families demand the return of their martyrs’ bodies, 700-1500 of which are reportedly held by Israel, were also suppressed by Israeli military personnel when they raided the area.
At least 58 Palestinians were wounded in the assault, which lasted for hours, including a 13-year-old boy, who sustained an injury to his abdomen.
The IOF also arrested three people from a money exchange shop, and confiscated around 1.5 million Israeli Shekel (USD 447,000), over allegations that the shop was transferring money to Hamas.
The IOF continues its military operations across the West Bank
On Wednesday, August 27, the IOF raided the city of Nablus in the northern West Bank, and imposed a siege on its Old City.
Dozens of Palestinians were reported injured in the attack, which lasted 14 hours. Palestinian citizens also told Turkish news agency Anadolu that the IOF turned a number of houses in the city into military barracks.
The spokesperson for the Palestinian Presidency Nabil Abu Rudeineh condemned and rejected the IOF’s intensified military operations in cities, villages, and refugee camps across the West Bank on Wednesday.
Abu Rudeineh called the latest Israeli military actions in the West Bank a “dangerous escalation”. He also held the Israeli government responsible for the escalating assaults of the IOF, and the terrorist acts of illegal Israeli settlers against the Palestinian people.
The Palestinian official warned Netanyahu’s government that continuing with these policies will lead the region to further tension and instability.
He also reiterated his call for the US administration to pressure Israel to stop these dangerous policies, which violate the resolutions of international legitimacy and international law, and to oblige it to end the war and other acts of aggression.
Israeli army storms northern West Bank’s Nablus, injures 25 Palestinians
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The Israeli army stormed the northern West Bank city of Nablus on Wednesday morning, injured 25 Palestinians and laying siege to its Old City, eyewitnesses told Anadolu.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said in a statement that its teams treated 25 people who suffered from tear gas inhalation during ongoing clashes in Nablus.
One person was transferred to the hospital, while the rest were treated on the spot, the organization said.
Witnesses said clashes erupted between dozens of Palestinians and Israeli army forces around the Old City of Nablus, where youths pelted the army with stones, which responded by live fire, rubber-coated bullets, and tear gas canisters to disperse protesters.
Witnesses said military reinforcements were deployed in and around the city, with troops forcing several families to evacuate their homes and turning them into military posts.
READ: Illegal Israeli settlers establish 3 new outposts in southern West Bank: Rights group
Israeli forces also began conducting house-to-house searches in multiple neighborhoods across Nablus.
On Tuesday, the Israeli army withdrew from the central West Bank city of Ramallah after an hours-long raid that left 58 Palestinians injured and three others detained, according to medical sources.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said in separate statements that its teams treated and transported 58 injured people, including eight wounded by live fire, five by shrapnel, and 14 by rubber-coated bullets. Another 31 Palestinians suffered from tear gas inhalation.
Since the start of Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip in October 2023, more than a thousand Palestinians have been killed and 7,000 injured in the occupied West Bank by Israeli forces and illegal settlers, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
In a landmark opinion last July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal. It demanded the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
READ: Netanyahu backs settler attacks in west bank, signals move to annex territory
Israeli forces arrest journalist, injure others in West Bank raids
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Israeli special forces arrested injured Palestinian journalist Muath Amarna, who lost one of his eyes in 2019 while covering events, on Wednesday evening. He was detained while passing along the road connecting the cities of Bethlehem and Hebron in the southern West Bank and taken to an unknown location.
In a separate incident, a Palestinian was injured by a rubber-coated metal bullet, as several others suffered from tear gas inhalation during clashes that followed an Israeli raid on Qusra town, south of Nablus in the northern West Bank.
Local sources said Israeli forces fired large numbers of rubber bullets and tear gas canisters at young men and residential homes. One young man was taken for medical treatment, while several residents suffered breathing difficulties.
According to the same sources, Israeli soldiers deliberately opened fire on homes in the southern part of the town and set up military checkpoints, disrupting the movement of residents.
The occupation forces and settlers have intensified their attacks and incursions into cities and areas of the West Bank since the launch of the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation on October 7, 2023, coinciding with a widespread and devastating assault on the Gaza Strip that has resulted in the martyrdom and injury of approximately 219,000 Palestinians, most of whom are women and children.
READ: US sanctions 4 ICC judges, deputy prosecutors over Netanyahu arrest warrants
Smotrich declares West Bank as part of Israel by “Divine Promise”
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Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich asserted on Thursday that the occupied West Bank is inherently part of Israel, citing a “divine promise” as the basis for his claim.
In a news conference, Smotrich announced the initiation of a project aimed at connecting the Ma’ale Adumim settlement to occupied Jerusalem. He characterised the establishment of a Palestinian state as a threat to Israel; “the only Jewish state in the world.”
Smotrich stated that he has the backing of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding matters related to the West Bank. He noted, “We are confiscating thousands of dunams of land and investing billions to settle one million Jews in the West Bank.”
He emphasised that time has come to apply Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank and to permanently dismiss the notion of dividing Israel. “Every Israeli home built in the West Bank represents a declaration of sovereignty, and each neighbourhood strengthens our claim,” he remarked, highlighting plans to double the size of the Ma’ale Adumim settlement.
In conclusion, Smotrich asserted, “Our future is not dictated by external opinions but by the actions of the Jewish people,” expressing confidence that a significant declaration regarding the imposition of sovereignty over the West Bank is imminent.
READ: Smotrich’s call to annex West Bank highlights Israel’s lack of will for peace, Islamic Jihad says
