5/20/2024–|Last updated: 5/20/202410:04 AM (Mecca time)
The Israeli occupation army launched, at dawn on Monday, a campaign of raids and incursions that affected several cities and towns in the occupied West Bank, and also demolished a Palestinian residential building in the town of Artas in the southern West Bank.
Eyewitnesses said that the Israeli army raided the cities of Ramallah, Al-Bireh (central), Qalqilya (north), and towns in the Hebron and Bethlehem governorates, where confrontations broke out between dozens of Palestinians and the occupation army, which used live bullets and tear gas bombs.
In the city of Ramallah, the Israeli army raided several neighborhoods and arrested at least one citizen. Witnesses reported that the Israeli army launched a house search campaign and made widespread arrests in the city of Hebron, affecting 14 citizens.
In the town of Artas in the Bethlehem Governorate, south of the West Bank, the Israeli army demolished a Palestinian residential building today, as an Israeli force stormed the town and demolished the 5-story building.
Eyewitnesses said that the occupation army demolished the building even though it was built about 20 years ago, under the pretext of building without a permit. They reported that the owner of the building submitted official papers to the relevant authorities, including an Israeli court, and has not received any response since then.
The building is located in Area C, where Israeli authorities prohibit construction without permits, which are almost impossible to obtain, Palestinians say.
The Oslo II Agreement (1995) classified the West Bank into 3 areas: “A” subject to full Palestinian control, “B” subject to Israeli security, civil, and Palestinian administrative control, and “C” subject to Israeli civil, administrative, and security control.
In parallel with the devastating war on Gaza, settlers escalated their attacks on Palestinians, and the Israeli army also escalated its operations in the West Bank, which led in total to the martyrdom of 506 Palestinians since the seventh of last October, the injury of about 5,000, and the arrest of 8,775, according to official Palestinian data.