RAMALLAH, Palestine

Three Palestinians were injured and 10 others arrested by the Israeli army during raids in the occupied West Bank early Saturday.

The official news agency Wafa, citing security sources, said the Israeli forces raided a Palestinian home in the town of Zaatara, Bethlehem city, severely beating two Palestinians.

Another Palestinian suffered from suffocation after the forces fired tear gas canisters near the house.

Meanwhile, nine people were detained in the northern city of Nablus. Among the detainees was a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Jamal Tirawi, and his two sons. The Israeli forces raided Tirawi’s home in the Balata refugee camp before the detentions.

A young Palestinian was also held in Tulkarem, northern West Bank.

In the southern city of Hebron, Israeli troops stormed dozens of homes and damaged their properties for the fourth consecutive day, local sources told Anadolu, adding that nearly 60 Palestinians were held for interrogation.

The Israeli army has escalated its attacks in the West Bank since the Gaza war in October 2023.

More than a thousand Palestinians have since been killed and nearly 11,000 others injured in attacks by the army and illegal settlers in the occupied territory. More than 20,000 people have also been arrested.

In a statement on Saturday, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry described the illegal Israeli settler violence targeting Palestinians in Nablus, Ramallah, Bethlehem, and Hebron as “terrorist attacks.”

The ministry said these attacks are part of “a dangerous and ongoing escalation within a systematic policy aimed at terrorizing our people and creating a repellent environment that facilitates the plans for ethnic cleansing and forced displacement led by the (Israeli) occupation government.”

“The extremist policies of the Israeli government encourage settlers to commit more crimes and fuel organized violence and terrorism against our people in Palestinian cities, villages, and camps,” the statement said.

The ministry demanded the formation of an international protection and peacekeeping force by the UN Security Council to protect the Palestinian people throughout the occupied Palestinian territory and urged the international community to hold “the perpetrators of these heinous crimes accountable in accordance with the international law.”

In a landmark opinion last July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal, and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.