Israeli forces, Sunday, kidnapped 11 Palestinians, including a minor, in the West Bank districts of Nablus and Bethlehem, according to reports by local and security sources.In the Nablus region, the Israeli army raided the village of Asira al-Qibliya, where they abducted eight people after breaking into and searching their homes, damaging their content.
A further raid was conducted on the nearby Askar refugee camp, where forces kidnapped a 21-year-old resident.
In Bethlehem, Israeli soldiers stormed the village of al-Khader and took 13-year-old Ahmad Salah as he was preparing to leave his school.
Sources told WAFA Palestinian News & Info Agency that forces arrested a 13-year-old student while he was leaving his school, provoking clashes with locals. Israeli soldiers fired stun grenades and tear gas canisters towards residents, causing a number of cases of suffocation among them.
This morning, the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) reports that, in al-Khalil (Hebron), Israeli forces detained two young Palestinian boys, 10-year-old Fares Abu Senene and 7-year-old Haitham Asrawi for one hour.
An ISM activist who was present stated: “When we arrived it was clear the children were really young, far too young to be detained or arrested by heavily armed soldiers. We spoke to several people who saw what happened and they explained there had been an altercation with some settlers from the nearby illegal settlements. It seemed like settlers attacked the children, who tried to fight back, and were then held by the Israeli military. After an hour the children were let go. This incident is just another example of the injustice that Palestinians face from the occupation in al-Khalil.”
Soldiers also raided al-Izza refugee camp, where they kidnapped one youth, age 22, after raiding and searching his home.
In occupied East Jerusalem, Rabbi Yehuda Glick, accompanied by a group of settlers, broke into the courtyards of al-Aqsa Mosque, on Sunday morning, under the protection of Israeli police.
According to witnesses, Israeli settlers stormed the mosque from al- Maghareba Gate and toured the courtyards.
In recent months, Al Ray reports that groups of extremist Jewish settlers, often accompanied by Israeli security forces, have repeatedly forced their way into the Al-Aqsa complex.
The frequent violations anger Palestinian Muslims and occasionally lead to violent confrontations, as the Israeli occupation tightens restrictions over access to the mosque gates with military procedures, checking worshipers’ IDs and summoning them for interrogation them at Qashtala station.
At the end of last March, Al Ray reports that the Israeli police commander in Jerusalem issued a decision to deny Rabbi Yehuda Glick to the al-Aqsa Mosque for four months.
For Muslims, Al-Aqsa represents the world’s third holiest site, with Jews holding the area sacred as the ‘Temple Mount’.
United Nations reports have revealed that over 200 Palestinians were injured by Israeli military and police forces, during the month of April alone.
Israel occupied the city of Jerusalem during the 1967 Middle East War. It was later annexed in 1980, with the Israeli government claiming it as the capital of the self-proclaimed Jewish state.
More than 500,000 Israelis live in illegal settlements across the West Bank and East Jerusalem, in direct contravention of international law and with full complicity of Western governments, in the form of billions in foreign aid and weapons, each year.
