Over the last 24 hours, the Israeli forces injured five Palestinians, including three children, in the occupied West Bank.
Israeli occupation forces fired live bullets at two young men on Monday morning, in the village of Deir Abu Mash’al, north of Ramallah, following a military raid in the area.
The official Palestinian news agency WAFA said that intense confrontations took place after the Israeli occupation forces stormed the village and fired tear gas canisters and live bullets towards the Palestinian residents.
As a result, two young men were injured with live bullets in the foot.
According to WAFA, the Israeli occupation army stormed at dawn various Palestinian homes and detained about 30 Palestinians who were subjected to field investigation before being released.
On Sunday, clashes erupted in Beit Furik between Palestinians and the Israeli occupation forces during a military raid in the town, the Anadolu news agency reported.
According to Anadolu, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society transferred three children aged between 14 and 16 to the hospital for medical attention.
For its part, WAFA quoted the Red Crescent as saying that the three children sustained injuries in the limbs resulting from live bullets, during the confrontations that took place with the occupation forces in Beit Furik.
Israeli occupation forces carry out a detention campaign in the village of Deir Abu Meshaal, the occupied West Bank. pic.twitter.com/QYG39NiUIM
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) October 21, 2024
Settler Violence
Meanwhile, east of Tulkarem, illegal Jewish settlers attacked Palestinian farmers while harvesting olives in the Ramin area.
WAFA quoted Palestinian farmers as saying that a large number of illegal settlers attacked them and forced them to leave at gunpoint while they were picking olives during the olive harvesting season.
The Palestinian farmers also told WAFA that the illegal settlers were heavily armed and assaulted them physically to force them to leave.
Palestinian farmers in the Ramin plain as other farmers across the occupied West Bank have been the target of repeated attacks by illegal Jewish settlers during this olive harvest season.
In a separate incident in Sebastia, northwest of Nablus, dozens of illegal Jewish settlers stormed on Monday the archaeological site in the town, WAFA reported.
The mayor of Sebastia, Mohammed Azem, told the news agency that the storming was carried out “under heavy protection from the occupation army.”
Settler Mob Attack – Two Palestinians Injured, Three Homes Set Alight in West Bank
Azem added that the occupation forces shut down the archaeological site and the surrounding shops and denied Palestinians access to the area.
The mayor pointed out that the illegal settlers under the protection of the Israeli occupation forces systematically raid the area with the aim of taking hold of it.
Intensified Attacks
Israeli occupation forces have recently intensified their attacks on West Bank cities and villages.
In the village of Husan, west of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, the Israeli occupation forces closed down the shops on the main street, WAFA reported on Monday.
The Director of the Husan Village Council, Rami Hamamra, told WAFA that the Israeli occupation army ordered the owners of “the shops extending along the main street” to shut down.
He added that attacks on Palestinian shop owners in al-Matina and al-Shorfa have recently become more frequent, in addition to denying access to Palestinians to these areas.
According to WAFA, Israeli forces and settlers have carried out a total of 16,663 assaults in the occupied West Bank, resulting in the murder of 19 Palestinians at the hands of settlers, since October last year.
Meanwhile the ethnic cleansing continues in the West Bank. Settlers attack olive pickers in Susya village. A courageous Israeli peace activist, protecting the Palestinian villagers, was injured in the assault pic.twitter.com/2U3jYEe7vA
— Yanis Varoufakis (@yanisvaroufakis) October 19, 2024
In addition, they have caused fires on 275 Palestinian properties and fields, with Nablus witnessing 120 incidents, followed by Ramallah with 42 and Jenin with 26, WAFA said, citing the PLO’s Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission.
On Sunday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health announced that the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, has risen to 759 since the outbreak of Israeli aggression on October 7, 2023.
In a statement, the Ministry noted that among the victims were 165 children and 18 women, in addition to more than 6,500 recorded injuries during the same period.
New Battlefield
Last September, Israeli media reported that Israel now considers the West Bank a battlefield, following days of escalated operations.
In addition to the casualties, significant damage has been inflicted on the infrastructure of cities like Jenin, Tulkarm, Nablus, and Tubas amongst others.
The United Nations Refugee and Works Agency (UNRWA) said that the first week of September has been the “deadliest” for Palestinians in the West Bank since November of last year.
“Many people were killed, including seven children,” UNRWA said on X, adding that “As the war rages in Gaza, violence and destruction in the West Bank increase by the hour.”
(PC, Agencies)
