Israeli army arrests 13 Palestinians as occupiers escalate attacks in West Bank

The Israeli army on Sunday arrested 13 Palestinians, including a child, during raids in the occupied West Bank, amid attacks by occupiers that included the burning of property and the destruction of agricultural land. Occupiers burned a residential room belonging to a Palestinian in the northern part of the town of Osarin, south of Nablus in the northern West Bank, local sources told Anadolu. They also set fire to a vehicle, partially burning it, and spray-painted racist slogans at the site, the sources added. In Bethlehem, Israeli occupiers attacked the Khala'il al-Louz area east of the city, damaging irrigation pipes used for crops, cutting down trees, and damaging Palestinian property and agricultural land. Read: ME powers condemn Israeli settlements Occupiers also uprooted olive and grape trees from Palestinian-owned land in the village of al-Minya, east of Bethlehem, according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa. Meanwhile, Israeli forces detained two Palestinians, including a child, from the village of al-Rashaydeh in Bethlehem. In Qalqilya, the army arrested six Palestinians after raiding the city and searching homes in the Kafr Saba and al-Naqqar neighborhoods, according to Wafa. The army also rounded up five Palestinians from the city of Tulkarem in an incursion. In Ramallah, Israeli forces closed the western entrance to al-Mughayyir village, northeast of the city, preventing Palestinians from entering or leaving. They also subjected some Palestinians to field interrogations and fired tear gas toward vehicles. Read More: Pope calls for an end to West Bank violence against Palestinians Local sources told Anadolu that the western entrance is currently the village’s only access point after the Israeli army closed its eastern entrance on October 7, 2023. According to the same sources, Israeli occupiers burned a tent, equipment and animal feed belonging to a Palestinian farmer on the outskirts of Burqa village, east of Ramallah. The West Bank has witnessed a surge in occupier attacks and Israeli military raids since the outbreak of Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip in October 2023, amid Palestinian and international warnings over the consequences of the continued escalation.