Israeli forces detain 10 Palestinians, wound 2 in West Bank raids

RAMALLAH, Palestine/ISTANBUL

Israeli forces carried out a series of military raids across the occupied West Bank on Sunday, detaining 10 Palestinians and leaving two others wounded, local sources said.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said its crews treated one man shot by Israeli soldiers and another wounded by illegal settlers in the Beit Einoun area, north of Hebron. Both were transferred to hospital.

According to the official Wafa news agency, Israeli troops in Hebron arrested a Palestinian man after storming his house in the Hawouz neighborhood and damaging his nearby shop. Another resident was detained in a separate raid.

In Bethlehem, three people were taken into custody, two from the city and one from the town of Husan, west of Bethlehem.

In central Ramallah, Israeli forces arrested a Palestinian woman, Hanaa Baydak, and her husband after breaking into their home and smashing furniture. Baydak is a well-known activist who has joined demonstrations in support of Gaza and previously held a hunger strike in solidarity with the enclave, Anadolu learned.

The Palestinian Prisoner Society said three more arrests took place in Jenin, including a young woman.

In Nablus, soldiers stormed the Balata refugee camp and raided the al-Hanbali Mosque in the Old City after forcing its doors open. Clashes erupted as troops fired live bullets and tear gas, but no injuries were reported.

Since October 2023, when Israel launched a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, at least 1,018 Palestinians have been killed and more than 7,000 injured in the West Bank by Israeli forces and illegal settlers, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

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.