A Palestinian child was martyred – Thursday – by Israeli occupation army gunfire in the city of Qalqilya, while young Palestinian men killed a settler, amid escalation of occupation forces’ incursions into cities and towns of the occupied West Bank and the implementation of arrests against their residents.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health said – in a statement – “The child Naeem Abdullah Naeem Samha (15 years old) was martyred by (Israeli) occupation bullets in Qalqilya.”
Thus, the death toll in the West Bank rises to 550 Palestinians, including 132 children, since October 7, according to Ministry of Health data.
Earlier Thursday, eyewitnesses said that an Israeli force stormed the city of Qalqilya and began searching a number of shops and homes.
The witnesses added that confrontations broke out between citizens and the Israeli army, in which the latter used live bullets and tear gas bombs.
#a witness| Occupation forces search a vehicle after suspecting it at Lions Gate in occupied Jerusalem and assault and beat its owner pic.twitter.com/X1V1vCAiEk
– Shehab News Agency (@ShehabAgency) June 20, 2024
On the other hand, Israeli sources announced the killing of a settler after being attacked by young men near Qalqilya.
For his part, Tel Aviv Tribune’s correspondent reported that Israeli occupation forces and settlers stormed the outskirts of Qusra village, south of the city of Nablus in the West Bank, and confiscated a Palestinian vehicle, claiming it was illegal, before withdrawing from the village.
Al-Aqsa TV reported that the occupation forces closed the Yusufiyah cemetery and began searching a vehicle after suspecting it at Lions Gate in occupied Jerusalem. They beat its owner and arrested another young man.
The occupation forces also stormed the town of Burqa, northwest of Nablus, and the town of Carmel, east of Yatta, and raided a house.
Continuous arrests
On the other hand, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club announced – Thursday – that Israel arrested at least 20 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank last night, bringing the number of detainees to 9,300 since last October 7.
The Palestinian News and Information Agency (Wafa) indicated that “this toll includes those who were arrested from homes, or through military checkpoints, or those who were forced to surrender themselves under pressure, or those who were held hostage.”
The club indicated that the occupation is pursuing a policy of re-arresting those who were released after a short period of time, and some of them were released for no more than a week.
Every day, the Israeli army storms cities and towns in the West Bank to arrest those it calls wanted persons. It usually assaults Palestinians and destroys public and private property.
In conjunction with its war on Gaza, since October 7, the occupation army and settlers have escalated their attacks on the West Bank, including occupied Jerusalem. This left 549 martyrs and about 5,200 wounded, according to official Palestinian authorities.