Israeli forces demolished buildings south of Hebron, while special forces surrounded a house in the town of Qabatiya in Jenin, amid the ongoing escalation by the occupation in the cities and towns of the West Bank.
A military force raided the town of Beit Awa, west of the city of Dura, south of Hebron, accompanied by heavy demolition vehicles and a bulldozer, and began demolishing two houses under construction and a commercial facility in Area B, which is administratively under the Palestinian Authority.
The director of Beit Awa municipality told Tel Aviv Tribune that the municipality had been following up on the legal file of the two houses in the Israeli courts for two months, but had not issued any decisions regarding them, adding that the demolition came without prior warning.
The majority of the West Bank lands are classified according to the Palestinian-Israeli agreements as Area C, meaning that it is subject to complete Israeli security and civil control with the exception of some civilian areas. This area includes all settlements and sparsely populated areas and constitutes 61%.
There is a percentage of 21% classified as Area B, in which the occupation authorities assume security responsibility, while the Palestinian Authority assumes civil responsibility. These areas include most of the large villages and towns.
Storming Qabatiya
In the same context, Tel Aviv Tribune’s correspondent said that Israeli special forces infiltrated the town of Qabatiya, south of Jenin, and surrounded a house there.
The correspondent reported that armed clashes took place between resistance fighters and occupation forces after they surrounded the house.
He stated that the occupation forces prevented ambulance crews from reaching the besieged house after receiving reports of injuries there.
The Israeli army sent additional reinforcements and a bulldozer into the town, causing panic and fear among the residents.
This is the second raid on the same town within two days. The Israeli army raided it yesterday, Wednesday, surrounded a house and arrested a citizen, before withdrawing.
On the other hand, the Israeli army arrested at least 27 Palestinians at dawn on Thursday during a series of raids on cities and towns in the occupied West Bank.
Eyewitnesses and local sources told Anadolu Agency that the Israeli army raided the cities of Nablus and Qalqilya (north), Bethlehem and Hebron (south), and other towns in several governorates.
The West Bank is witnessing a wave of tension and field confrontations between the Palestinians and the Israeli army, including raids and arrests of Palestinians, coinciding with the aggression on the Gaza Strip, which left tens of thousands of civilian martyrs and wounded, most of them children and women.