Israeli forces, on Thursday, opened fire towards a number of houses and lands belonging to Palestinian farmers east of Khuza’a, in the Gaza Strip. Further clashes have broken out in several West Bank neighborhoods, including the Bethlehem district, where a house was set on fire by an Israeli teargas canister.Al Ray correspondence confirmed the news in Gaza, saying that the Israeli military opened fire towards farmers who are close to the location and nearby homes. No casualties or injuries were reported, however.
Israeli soldiers, yesterday, shot a tear gas grenade into a home in Bethlehem’s Aida refugee camp during clashes with local youth, causing a fire to break out and destroy the room and its contents.
Locals said that Israeli forces have fired tear gas into the camp every day for the past year, with youth throwing stones at the soldiers in response.
According to Ma’an News Agency, there are 19 refugee camps in the occupied West Bank, within which live about a quarter of the 771,000 registered refugees in the territory.
More than 760,000 Palestinians — estimated today to number 4.8 million with their descendants — were pushed into exile or driven out of their homes in the conflict surrounding Israel’s creation in 1948.
Dozens of Palestinians , on Thursday, suffered from tear gas suffocation during clashes with Israeli forces in al-Fawwar refugee camp, to the south of Hebron, according to WAFA correspondence.
Clashes erupted at the main entrance of the camp, where soldiers fired rubber-coated bullets and tear gas canisters towards the residents and their homes, causing many to suffocate by tear gas inhalation. They were all treated at the scene.
The camp is also scene of regular clashes with Israeli forces, in addition to house raids, demolition of properties and arrests.
Israeli forces abducted at least 27 Palestinians across East Jerusalem and the West Bank overnight, as clashes continued to erupt in Jerusalem’s al-Isawiya neighborhood.
Authorities conducted extensive raids in the East Jerusalem neighborhoods of Silwan, al-Tur, al-Suwwana, and Jabal al-Mukabbir early Thursday, where several Palestinians were taken.
Furthermore, on Thursday, Israeli forces engaged in home raids across the West Bank, kidnapping some 18 individuals.
An Israeli military spokeswoman reportedly confirmed the arrests, saying that 15 were ‘suspected of involvement in terror and violent riots,’ while three were suspected of ‘involvement in illegal activities.’
She also claimed that three of the Palestinians detained overnight were ‘Hamas operatives,’ including two individuals taken from a village she called ‘Khirbat Bneizi’, to the northwest of Ramallah, as well one from Sair, southwest of Bethlehem.
Of the remaining Palestinians detained overnight, she said that three were taken from homes in Beit Lid near Nablus, one from Anabta east of Tulkaram, one from Rafidia northwest of Nablus, one from Beit Liqia southwest of Ramallah, four from Deir Ballut, three from Hizma southeast of Ramallah, and two from al-Rihiya, south of Hebron.
Of those arrests, Ma’an was able to independently verify 10 of the detainees.
Palestinian security sources confirmed to Ma’an that Israeli forces raided the village of Deir Ballut and detained Wahbi Kayid Judeh, 23, Sami Abdullah, 17, Daoud Khalid Abdullah, 26, and Tariq Rashid Abu Kheir, 23.
Anas Ismail Moussa, age 15, was detained from Bethlehem, while Musallam Nasser Sawalhi, 17, was detained from Beituniya.
In the Bethlehem governorate in the southern West Bank, Israeli forces detained Fouad Omar Salah, 20, from the village of al-Khader, and took him to Etzion detention center for interrogation on Thursday.
Fouad’s brother, Muhammad Salah, told Ma’an that Israeli forces raided their home around 1:00 a.m. and detained his brother after they had ‘wrecked’ the home during the raid.
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society confirmed that, in the overnight raids, Alaa Muhammad Kayid Nana, Abdullah Tubasi, and Aydah Jabarin were taken from Hebron.
More than 5,000 Palestinians are currently being held in Israeli prisons, including hundreds without charge or trial.
Also on Thursday, Israeli settlers pelted passing Palestinian vehicles with stones in Dura town, to the south of Hebron, according to security sources. No injuries were reported.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces raided al-Zaitoun neighborhood, in Hebron, where they broke into several houses, including the house of al-Haslamon family.
A member of al-Haslamon family, Maher, reportedly attacked last Monday three Israeli settlers outside the illegal settlement of Alon Shvut, part of the Gush Etzion bloc of settlements between Bethlehem and Hebron, killing a woman and injuring three other people.
An Israeli military special unit took photos and measurements for the house in anticipation of a demolition order, this just days after Israeli PM Netanyahu said that his cabinet had approved a decision to demolish the houses of Palestinians involved in such attacks against Israelis.
According to WAFA, Maher is currently unconscious in the intensive care unit at Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center in Jerusalem after being shot and critically wounded by soldiers stationed near the scene.
See also: 11/12/14 Armed Settlers Attack Female Students Near Bethlehem, Raids & Kidnappings Continue Across West Bank
