RAMALLAH, Palestine

Israeli army forces raided the Birzeit University in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Tuesday and detained at least two students, a local source said.

The source added that Israeli forces vandalized the student union offices on campus and destroyed the university’s western gate.

Over the past few years, the Israeli military has conducted regular raids in the West Bank, which have escalated with the beginning of the war on Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023. Palestinians have also been violently attacked by illegal Israeli settlers.

Nearly 800 Palestinians have since been killed and over 6,450 others injured by Israeli army fire in the occupied territory, according to the Health Ministry.

The escalation follows a landmark opinion in July by the International Court of Justice that declared Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian land "illegal" and demanded the evacuation of all existing settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara