10/12/2024–|Last updated: 10/12/202408:49 AM (Mecca time)
The Israeli occupation army decided to reinforce its forces in the West Bank, and closed the entrances to occupied Jerusalem and its suburbs with cement blocks, while continuing arrest campaigns in various areas of the West Bank.
A statement by the occupation army said that it decided to strengthen the number of its combat brigades for defense tasks in the Central Region Command in the West Bank.
The Israeli army added that this step comes to support the preparedness of these companies for different scenarios in the West Bank.
On Wednesday, the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation said that “for the first time, since the second intifada 20 years ago (September 2000), the Israeli army has deployed armored personnel carriers in the West Bank.”
The authority pointed out that the army fears attacks on settlements in the West Bank that mimic the Hamas movement’s sudden attack on Israeli military bases adjacent to the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023.
About half a million Israeli settlers reside in 176 settlements and 186 outposts established on the occupied West Bank.
Arrests and raids
Meanwhile, Palestinian media reported that the occupation forces stormed cities and towns in the West Bank on Saturday night and launched raids and arrests of citizens.
The incursions targeted the towns of Silwan and Anata in Jerusalem, Azzun, Kafr Thulth, Habla, and Kafr Qaddum in Qalqilya, Beit Rima, Al-Mazraa Al-Gharbiyah, and Budrus in Ramallah, in addition to the villages of Udla and Tal in Nablus.
The Israeli occupation forces also arrested dozens of citizens near the Tarqumiya military checkpoint, west of Hebron.
On Friday evening, the occupation army detained foreign sympathizers for two hours in the town of Qasra in the Nablus Governorate, north of the occupied West Bank.
The mayor of Qasra, Hani Odeh, told Anadolu Agency, “Forces from the occupation army stormed on Friday evening a center where about 20 foreign solidarity activists were staying, detained them for about two hours, and confiscated their ID cards and phones.”
He continued, “The solidarity activists were interrogated about the reason for their presence in the town, and the nature of the activities they were carrying out, before those forces withdrew.”
Closing Jerusalem
In occupied Jerusalem, the Israeli occupation forces closed the entrances to all towns and villages on the outskirts of the city on Friday evening, on the eve of the Jewish Day of Atonement.
Eyewitnesses said that the occupation forces placed cement blocks at the entrances to a number of towns and villages on the outskirts of Jerusalem, and erected iron barriers.
On Saturday, the occupation forces closed the bridge between Beit Hanina and Shuafat, north of occupied Jerusalem, with cement cubes and iron barriers.
The witnesses added that the occupation police deployed at the entrances to the villages, and prevented dozens of residents from passing, after closing their entrances with cement blocks, in preparation for the start of Yom Kippur, which continues until Saturday evening.
The occupation police also banned public buses and vehicles operating on the public lines connecting the towns and Jerusalem, paralyzing traffic and obstructing the daily life of Palestinians.
The occupation forces close the entrance to the Al-Musrara neighborhood in occupied Jerusalem, continuing to close the streets and neighborhoods of Jerusalem in preparation for the so-called “Yom Kippur Day.” pic.twitter.com/Eb9MSmPctw
– Capital News Network (@alasimannews) October 11, 2024
Tubas clashes
In a related context, armed clashes continued between resistance members from the Tubas Brigade, affiliated with the Al-Quds Brigades, and the security services of the Palestinian Authority in several areas of the city of Tubas.
The clashes come amid an intense deployment of security personnel following the arrest and pursuit of resistance fighters and direct shooting at them, which led to the injury of a Palestinian, whose wounds were described as serious, according to eyewitnesses.
The Al-Quds Brigades said that the security services continue to pursue the resistance fighters to eliminate or arrest them, to end the escalating national situation in the West Bank, according to a statement issued by the Brigades.
She called for the mobilization and lifting of the siege on Tubas Brigade fighters who were besieged by the security services.
Palestinian websites said that the Palestinian security services arrested a number of young men in the Old Market area in Tubas, coinciding with the continuation of armed clashes, and detonated explosive devices prepared by the resistance to the occupation.
Tel Aviv Tribune contacted the security services to obtain its account of what was happening in Tubas, but they refused to comment.
In a related development, the Authority headquarters in Jenin came under heavy fire on Friday evening.
The West Bank, including occupied Jerusalem, is witnessing daily Israeli violations by the army and settlers, in parallel with the genocidal war committed by Tel Aviv in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023.
Israeli violations in the West Bank resulted in the death of 749 Palestinians, the injury of about 6,250, and the arrest of more than 11,100, according to official Palestinian data.
With American support, the war on Gaza resulted in more than 104,000 Palestinian martyrs and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 10,000 missing persons, amid massive destruction and famine that killed dozens of children and the elderly, in one of the worst humanitarian disasters.
