Israeli occupation forces abducted five Palestinians, and destroyed two water wells, during pre-dawn military invasions on Thursday across the Nablus governorate in the occupied West Bank’s northern part.
Media sources reported that soldiers stormed a residential building in the Rafidia neighborhood, in the western area of Nablus city, and abducted two young men, while a third was taken from the city center. Their identities remain unknown at the time of reporting.
The military also abducted Malek Al-Mohsen from the town of Odala and Ahed Salman from the town of Qusin, west of Nablus.
Additionally, Israeli troops broke into several homes in Balata refugee camp, east of Nablus, and in the village of Al-Lubban Ash-Sharqiya, south of the city, causing damage.
During the invasion of Al-Lubban Ash-Sharqiya, the soldiers detained ten Palestinians in the yard of a local mosque in the village’s center and interrogated them for several hours before releasing them.
On Thursday morning, Israeli forces invaded the towns of Beit Furik and Beit Dajan, east of Nablus, and sealed two water wells with concrete.
The wells supply drinking and irrigation water to dozens of Palestinian homes and farmlands across both communities.
Local sources reported that the military assault will result in substantial losses for greenhouse owners reliant on the wells for irrigation.
The invasion also involved the confiscation of a water pump and various agricultural tools near the well in Beit Dajan.
At dawn on Thursday, Israeli soldiers and illegal paramilitary colonizers invaded the town of Silwad, east of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank’s central part, resulting in the death of a Palestinian man following a series of violations by the colonizers, who torched homes and cars.
Medical sources identified the slain Palestinian as Khamis Abdul-Latif Ayyad, 45, a married father of several children.
The sources confirmed that Ayyad died from severe smoke inhalation while attempting to extinguish fires set by paramilitary settlers targeting civilian vehicles.
Ayyad, a Palestinian-American, had returned to Palestine for the summer. Just days before his death, his eldest daughter had celebrated her engagement.
Khamis is the uncle of Anas Bassam Hammad, 21, whom Israeli soldiers killed in early December 2015.
Also Thursday, a six-month-old infant suffered severe tear gas inhalation after Israeli forces invaded the village of Tabaqa, located southwest of Hebron in the southern occupied West Bank. At least eight other Palestinians were abducted during coordinated invasions across several communities in the Hebron governorate.
